BELVIDERE, NEW JERSEY
Collection: PETER CALLAS
Artist Statement
I have focused on expressionist forms and the potential to incite the mind toward something beyond the technical aspects of making art, beyond the mechanical task of creating physical forms out of clay, that blend both historical references and contemporary intellectual values.
Initially, I saw wood firing ceramics in an Anagama kiln as the perfect tool for abstract expression. A creative process with resulting patinas ranging from Celedon to molten lava, that inevitably records the passage of time. Abstract creations suspended between the states of evolution and de-evolution.
Over five decades it has been my creative touchstone where 10-day firings served to develop a personal dialogue and expand surface possibilities; among other aspects was an instrumental conduit for the intangible qualities of mystery and spirit melding intuition
and alchemy.
It is not simply a furnace for finishing work.
A New Jersey native, Peter received his B.F.A. from The University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA in 1973, where he focused on ceramics. The following year he spent in Montana at The Archie Bray Foundation as a resident artist. At 23, with no grasp of the language, he traveled to Japan in search of a porcelain apprenticeship in Kyushu. In Seto, he stayed with Goro Suzuki, who showed him old wood-fired kilns in the area and encouraged him to visit Shigaraki. Arriving at Rakusai's studio, construction of their new Anagama was underway, and Peter managed to secure an invitation to help with the kiln-building project.
He soon abandoned his porcelain aspirations and instead focused on visiting all six ancient kiln sites. Returning home, Peter found a suitable place to construct an Anagama in 1975, fifteen minutes from Manhattan, and within a few years entered into a 23-year collaboration with Peter Voulkos.
About a decade later, he settled in Belvidere, NJ, built his current kiln, married, and started a family. His work has been exhibited internationally and is held in over 50 museums worldwide, including the Met, the V&A, the Gotoh, the Yale University Art Gallery, and Sèvres.
Peter was well represented in the 2021 Met exhibition Shapes from Out of Nowhere, with eight of his pieces acquired from the show.
Two prestigious Pollock-Krasner fellowships, in 2018 and 2021, along with a grant from the Windgate Foundation, helped fund Peter's book An Enduring Legacy and the award-winning documentary film CALLAS: Life on Fire, which screened at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. The book is available through his website; the film has yet to be released.
In 2022, Peter celebrated a belated 50-year museum tour, opening in February at the American Museum of Ceramic Art and traveling to the Belger Crane Yard Art Center. He is regarded as a true American pioneer and an authority on wood firing and the Anagama kiln.
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Hellenic Diaspora Foundation, Athens, Greece
Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, Massachusetts
National Museum, Oslo, Norway
Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon, Lyon France
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, NY
V&A Museum, London, England
Lyon Museum, Lyon, France
Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, N.Y
Gardiner Museum, Toronto, Canada
Grassi Museum of Applied Arts, Leipzig, Germany
Shangyu Modern Ceramic Art Museum, Shaoxing City, China
Serves Museum, Paris, France
Guimet Museum, Paris, France
Flint Institute of Art, Flint, MI
Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC
Yale Art Museum, New Haven, CT
Minneapolis Art Institute, Minneapolis, MN
San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, San Angelo. TX
American Museum of Ceramic Art, Pomona, CA
Guangdong Shiwan Ceramic Museum, Foshan, China
The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea
Yeoju Municipal Museum, Yeo Joo, Korea
Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO
Museum of Modern Art, Sao Paolo, Brazil
Ohr/O’Keefe Museum, Biloxi, MS
International Museum of Ceramics, Kecskemet, Hungary
Powerhouse Museum, Sidney, Australia
Yeoju Ceramic Museum, Yeo Joo, South Korea
Tho Art Space, Seoul, South Korea
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Gotoh Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
The Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library, Topeka, KS
Cleveland Art Museum, Cleveland, OH
The Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park, Shigaraki, Japan
University of Iowa Museum, Iowa City, IO
Archie Bray Museum, Helena, MT
University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL
Florida Keys Community College, Key West, FL
Southern Connecticut State University, Hartford, CT
MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS
2023 University of Michigan Museum of Art, “Clay as Soft Power”
2022 Recent Acquisitions, Gardiner Museum, Toronto, Canada
2022 American Museum of Ceramic Art, Pomona, CA
2021 The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, NY
2018 Shangyu Modern Ceramic Art Museum, Shaoxing, China
2018 Flint Institute of Art, Flint, MI
2016 Ceramic Invitational Trenton City Museum, NJ
2016 Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO
2015 The Ohr/O’Keefe Museum, Biloxi, MS
2014 Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC
2014 AMOCA, Pomona, CA
2014 Goddard Gallery, Daum Museum, Sedalia, MO
2012 Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO
2010 Noyes Museum of Art, Oceanville, NJ
2009 San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, San Angelo. TX
2008 American Museum of Ceramic Art, Pomona, CA
2008 Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ
2008 Mashiko Museum of Ceramic Art, Mashiko, Japan
2007 Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO
2007 Guangdon Shiwan Ceramic Museum, Foshan, China
2007 Trenton City Museum, Trenton, NJ
2005 Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO
2005 Gyeonggi Museum, Yeoju, Korea
2004 Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO
2003 The 2nd World Ceramic Biennale 2003, Korea
2002 6th International Competition “Honorable Mention” Mino, Japan
2002 Asia Society of NY
2002 Museum of Nebraska Art, Kearney, NE
2001 The 1st World Ceramic Biennale 2001, “Honorable Mention”, Korea
2001 International Ceramic Museum, Kecskemet, Hungary
2001 The Ohr/O’Keefe Museum, Biloxi, MS
2001 The Ceramic Gallery Museum, Yeoju, Korea
2001 The Museum of Contemporary Ceramic Art, Shigaraki, Japan
2000 Powerhouse Museum, Sidney, Australia
1999 Hunterdon Museum of Art, Clinton, NJ
1997 The Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park Museum, Shigaraki, Japan
1993 The Museum of Fine Arts, Lillehammer, Norway
1993 The Kunstindustrimuseet Museum, Oslo, Norway
1992 The Port of History Museum, Philadelphia, PA
1992 The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
1992 Erie Art Museum, Erie, PA
1992 Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, Logan, UT
1991 Morris Museum, New Jersey Invitational, Morris Township, NJ
1991 Cheney-Cowles Memorial Museum, Spokane, WA
1991 Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, Washington
1991 University of Oregon, Museum of Art, Eugene, OR
1990 Holter Museum of Art, Helena, MT
1989 American Clay Artist, Port of History Museum, Philadelphia, PA
1979 The Bruce Museum, Greenwich, CT
1977 The New Jersey State Art Museum, Trenton, NJ
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022 Belger Crane Art Studios, Kansas City, MO
2022 Elder Contemporary Art Gallery, Charlotte, N.C
2022 American Museum of Ceramic Art, Pomona, CA
2020 Schacht Gallery, Saratoga Clay Art Center, Saratoga, N.Y
2020 Community Arts Center, Wallingford, P.A
2017 Clara Scremini Gallery, Paris, France
2014 Gallery Syoh, Osaka, Japan
2014 South Willard, Los Angeles, CA
2013 South Willard, Los Angeles, CA
2013 Vessels Gallery, Boston, MA
2013 Crimson Laurel Gallery, Bakersville, NC
2010 Gallery Syoh, Osaka, Japan
2008 The Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO
2008 Armstrong Gallery, Pomona, CA
2007 Trenton City Museum, Trenton N.J
2007 Gallery Syoh, Osaka, Japan
2006 Tong-In Gallery, Seoul, Korea
2005 John Humes Japanese Stroll Garden, Locust Valley, NY
2005 Gallery Syoh, Osaka, Japan
2003 Dai Ichi Arts Ltd. New York, NY
2003 Gallery Syoh, Osaka, Japan
2003 Hoen Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2003 Clay Art Center, Port Chester, NY
2002 Modern Age Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2002 Celadon Art Gallery, Water Mill, NY
2001 Meiso Gallery, Sendai, Japan
2001 Dai Ichi Arts, Ltd. New York, NY
2000 North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
2000 Salon de Vamhou, Kurashiki, Japan
1999 Central Gallery, Osaka, Japan
1999 Kuroda Toen Gallery, Ginza, Tokyo, Japan
1999 Salon de Vamhou, Kurashiki, Japan
1998 Mason Gross Gallery, New Brunswick, NJ
1998 Kenbishi Gallery, Nagoya, Japan
1998 Dai Ichi Arts, Ltd. New York, NY
1996 Hodge Podge Gallery, Kyoto, Japan
1996 Kuroda Toen Gallery, Ginza, Tokyo, Japan
1996 Colby Sawyer College, New London, NH
1996 Longwood College of Art, Farmville, VA
1993 Eric Zetterquist Gallery, New York, NY
1991 Sugimoto Art Works, New York, NY
1990 Sugimoto Art Works, New York, NY
1986 The Twining Gallery, New York, NY
1980 Cado Design Center, Dallas, TX
1979 H.M.S Studios, New York, NY
1978 Cado Design Center, New York, NY