Eugene Friley, Gene Friley

Born 1921, Painesville, Ohio

Died 2019 Ohio

EDUCATION

1947     BFA Ceramics: Ohio State University

1951     MA Ceramics: Ohio State University

PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE

May 1943-May 1946  Air Force: WWII Pacific theater

1947-1990 Professor, Ceramics, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

1958 University of California, Department of Decorative Arts, Irvine, California

BIOGRAPHY

Gene Friley was an Ohio ceramicist known for figurative sculptures, organic designs, and two-dimensional wall pieces. As a mature artist, Friley experimented with additional mediums such as concrete and plaster, to complete his sculptural work.

In an interview with the Columbus Dispatch, for his 2010 show “Garden Delights” at Ohio State University, Friley stated that nature “is the source of all art. I like organic things, earthy substances, textures, and hills^[1].”  No matter the medium Friley stated that he always returned to the same governing philosophy that “nature is the prime teacher” of all art^[2]. 

Friley became an influential professor of ceramics at Ohio State University.  Ohio State University was a pioneering school in ceramic engineering and in 1927 was one of the first schools to establish ceramics as fine art, separate from the ceramic engineering program.