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Kenneth Vavrek, Ken Vavrek

Biography to Display: 

1939Born Cleveland, Ohio

EDUCATION

1963BFA Ohio University, Athens, Ohio

1965MFA Ohio University, Athens, Ohio

PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE

1970-2003Professor of Art, Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

1974Co-founder, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

 

Kenneth Vavrek is known for wheel-thrown or slab-built stoneware sculptures and vessels.

A visit to the Southwestern deserts in 1975 inspired the work of the following 20 years; a series of sculptures, wall pieces, and vessels. A number of the vessel forms created during this time are raku fired. This body of work led to a series of wall pieces that are more abstract than the desert-themed work. In 2008 Vavrek began an even more abstracted body of work that includes large wall platters as well as wall sculptures.

 In 1974 Vavrek was a co-founder of The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Public Collections to Display: 

Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, Arizona

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio

Fu Le International Ceramic Art Museums, Fuping, Shaanxi, China

Kalamazoo Institute of Art, Kalamazoo, Michigan

Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Minnesota

Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art, Biloxi, Mississippi

Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Widener University Law School, Wilmington, Delaware

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bibliography to Display: 

“Ken Vavrek’s Wall Sculpture.” Ceramics Monthly (March 1983).

Sachs, Sid. “Kenneth Vavrek.” American Ceramics (January 1983).

 

WEBSITE(S):

http://www.kenvavrek.com/

 

Typical Marks
1990
Wiley Custom With Strap Shaft
Date: 1990
Form: Sculpture
Materials: White Stoneware
Surface Technique: Glaze
The Forrest L. Merrill Collection, Dane Cloutier Archives
The Forrest L. Merrill Collection, Dane Cloutier Archives
Sculpture with Bowls
Method: Thrown and Altered, Hand-Built
Surface Technique: Glaze
The Clay Studio Collection, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Photo: TMP
The Clay Studio Collection, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Photo: TMP

Citation: Clark, Donald. "The Marks Project." Last modified November 4, 2019. http://www.themarksproject.org:443/marks/vavrek