funk art

Robert Arneson & The Davis Group — Revolutions Of The Wheel

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Part Four of the five-part American ceramics history film, Revolutions Of The Wheel, examines the career and work of one of the most controversial of 20th Century American potters, the San Francisco Bay resident and professor, Robert Arneson – the father of ceramic Funk Art.

Fellow artists Jim Brady, Peter VandenBerge and Richard Shaw reminisce about the years they worked along side Arneson at the University of Californi, Davis.
An extensive interview with Arneson's widow, the artist Sandra Shannonhouse, explains his need to explore the human condition. Historians and critics clarify the work of this most extraordinary artist.

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California Draftsman – Robert Arneson – Self Portrait Drawing

3 Comments / Robert Arneson /

Robert Arneson was an American sculptor and ceramicist who is considered as the father of Funk Art, the anti-establishment movement that incorporated a mélange of found objects, autobiographical subjects, and humor.
Although he worked in many media (including painting and printmaking), Robert Arneson is perhaps best known as the most important ceramic sculptor in the field. He mixed a sense of humor and a strong, political point of view in his body of work. His work focused on Social Commentary with major themes being the Self Portrait, Friends and Influential People and Concerns about Nuclear War.