Tony Natsoulas

Video by Betty Bailey

Out of Our Minds: Clayton Bailey & Tony Natsoulas

This exhibition brings together two giants of California Bay Area ceramics.

Satire, humor, and irreverence are hallmarks of both Bailey and Natsoulas’ art. Their work is part of a strong tradition of California figurative art, born out of California Pop Art and often referred to as “Funk art.” Funk’s unrefined, irreverent, unorthodox, conceptual aesthetic and sometimes pointed critique reveals its Dada lineage and homegrown California assemblage tradition. Bailey is considered an originator of California Funk art, and Natsoulas’ work descends from the movement.

This exhibition is also the first museum retrospective honoring Clayton Bailey, who passed away in 2020 in Port Costa, California. A significant number of Bailey’s robot sculptures are included in the exhibition. The robots are reincarnated from discarded bicycle and automobile parts, kitchen appliances, and other scrap metal parts. Also included are important abstract and fantastical figurative ceramics, some hailing from the legendary “Wonders of the World Museum.”

Filmed and edited by Benjamin Fargen

Having a show at the Sonoma Valley Art Museum with Clayton Bailey in 2022. Here is a little peek of it.

Video By Ben Fargen

Out of Our Minds: Clayton Bailey & Tony Natsoulas

This exhibition brings together two giants of California Bay Area ceramics.

Satire, humor, and irreverence are hallmarks of both Bailey and Natsoulas’ art. Their work is part of a strong tradition of California figurative art, born out of California Pop Art and often referred to as “Funk art.” Funk’s unrefined, irreverent, unorthodox, conceptual aesthetic and sometimes pointed critique reveals its Dada lineage and homegrown California assemblage tradition. Bailey is considered an originator of California Funk art, and Natsoulas’ work descends from the movement.

This exhibition is also the first museum retrospective honoring Clayton Bailey, who passed away in 2020 in Port Costa, California. A significant number of Bailey’s robot sculptures are included in the exhibition. The robots are reincarnated from discarded bicycle and automobile parts, kitchen appliances, and other scrap metal parts. Also included are important abstract and fantastical figurative ceramics, some hailing from the legendary “Wonders of the World Museum.”

Filmed and edited by Benjamin Fargen

Tony making a portrait of Clayton Bailey