The Human Condition: The Stephen and Pamela Hootkin Collection Sept. 2014 | Page 141

Frimkess, Michael American; (b. 1937, Los Angeles, CA; lives in Venice, CA) Studied with Peter Voulkos and William Green at the Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA Michael Frimkess was one of the youngest artists ever to study with ceramics master SELECTED REFERENCES: Peter Voulkos at the Otis Art Institute, now the Otis College of Art and Design in Los Karlstrom, Paul. “Oral History Angeles, California. Influenced by the practical training he received at a ceramic Interview with Michael and factory in Southern Italy in the mid-1950s and by the ancient ceramics he studied at the Magdalena Frimkess, 2001 Metropolitan Museum of Art, Frimkess’ main focus throughout his career has been the March 8-April 17.” Nanette L. Laitman Documentation vessel. Frimkess infuses historical forms such as Chinese ginger jars and Greek vases Project for Craft and Decorative with contemporary subject matter. Since the 1970s, Frimkess has struggled with multiple Arts in American, Archives of sclerosis and often collaborates with his wife, Magdalena Suarez Frimkess, a Venezuelan painter and sculptor who inventively paints the vessels that her husband has thrown and fired. Michael and Magdalena’s narrative vessels, which they began making together in the mid-1960s, explore social and political issues through the ceramic form American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Ostermann, Mathias. The Ceramic Narrative. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006. melding together a traditional throwing style with trenchant social commentary. Michael Frimkess’ work is represented in major museum collections including the Museum of Arts and Design, New York; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC; Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery, Scripps College, Claremont, California; Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, Arizona; and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF MICHAEL FRIMKESS WORKS IN THE EXHIBITION The Marriage of Auntie Susana Burstein, Joanne. “The Levin, Elaine. The History of Frimkesses.” American Ceramics American Ceramics, 1607 1, no. 4 (Fall 1982): 56–57. to the Present. New York: Clark, Garth. American Potters: Harry N. Abrams, 1988. The Work of Twenty Modern Peterson, Susan. “A Matter of Masters. New York: Watson Influence.“ Ceramics: Art and Guptill Publications, 1981. Perception no. 37 (1999): 55–58. 139