Robert Arneson, Bob Arneson

1930 Born Benicia, California

1992 Died Benicia, California

EDUCATION

1949-1952 College of Martin, Kentfield, California

1954BA Art Education California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, California

1958MFA California College of the Arts, Oakland, California

PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE

1958-1993 Ceramic sculptor

1960-1962 Instructor of Design and Crafts, Mills College, Oakland, California

1962-1991 University of California, Davis, California

BIOGRAPHY

Robert Arneson is perhaps best known for his ceramic sculptural pieces that challenge social and economic norms and beliefs prevalent in western civilization of his time.

Arneson was one of several California ceramists who in the 1960s began to abandon the traditional ceramic vessel in favor of experimenting with the use of clay to express concepts.  Everyday items were created in clay to comment on contemporary socio-political issues. He became a leader in a movement that became known as Ceramic Funk, part of the larger Funk Movement that swept through California during the 1960s. Using his knowledge of art history, popular culture and substantial sculpting skills Arneson developed works of ceramic sculpture that comment on politics, sex and everything outside the socially acceptable and that were shocking and offensive to many.

Arneson began his interest in art as a high school student by drawing cartoons and painting with water colors an interest he would pursue throughout his career. His early teaching positions required him to teach ceramics, not a media he had mastered, which led him to take ceramics classes. He enrolled in summer classes with Herbert Sanders at San Jose State and with Edith Heath at California College of Arts and Crafts. In 1957 he enrolled in the MFA program at Mills College where he studied ceramics with Antonio Prieto. There are examples of perfectly thrown pots from this period. Abstract Expressionist ideas began to enter his work in the late 1950s and early 1960s. At this time Arneson was aware of the work of Peter Voulkos whose influence began to appear in Arneson’s sculptures. Ceramic pieces created by Joan Miro with Josep Artigas also interested Arneson. Perhaps no other ceramic artist created such a large and diverse body of work, not simply by joining evolving art movements, but by responding to and commenting on the art movements themselves.

In 1962 he was hired by The University of California, Davis where at a time when clay was not considered a serious art medium, he established the ceramic sculpture program as part of the larger Art Department.

Drawing was an integral part of his studio work throughout his life: he worked out ceramic sculptures in numerous detailed sketches. He also made many drawings and paintings with other themes including the Alice Street house which he repeatedly painted during 1967-68 while living in New York City. Arneson’s curiosity led him to take classes in other media including weaving and jewelry making. Bronze casting was his major focus in 1963, his goal that year was a casting a week. His curiosity and work in other media during the 1960's never weaked his committment to clay.

Figurative pieces began to show up in his work in the early 1960s.  In 1965 he constructed most of a long series of modeled, thrown, and altered trophies. Arneson typically worked in series developing an idea by its repetition. The trophies led to a series of household items each embellished with unexpected elements. The mid 1960's also saw humor emerge as seen in Typewriter.

Going forward he continued to create figurative work including numerous oversized self-portraits and portraits of friends and fellow artists that he had begun making in the early 1970s. Arneson continued to work outside commonly held boundaries of clay until a week before his death in 1992.