Ken Price (1935-2012) is one of the great American sculptors of the last half-century. Born and raised in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Price began making ceramics as a student at Santa Monica Community College, yet it was Peter Voulkos, his professor at Otis College of Art and Design in the late 1950s, who was pivotal to Price’s early development. Price initially experimented with the possibilities of ceramics as a medium, producing large-scale sculptures. Later, he would break away from Voulkos and the Otis studio by experimenting with smaller, eccentric clay forms painted in striking color combinations that had an other-worldly quality. Price was a member of the artistic circle that exhibited at the Ferus Gallery, where he had his first solo exhibition in 1960.
Ken Price created remarkable and innovative works for over fifty years that have redefined contemporary sculpture practice. A full retrospective of his career is now showing at The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). “Ken Price Sculpture: A Retrospective” was designed by architect Frank O. Gehry, who enjoyed a lifelong friendship with Price. Gehry worked with Price and LACMA Curator Stephanie Barron for two and a half years on the retrospective before Price’s death in February 2012.