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Home Ceramic art

Tony Natsoulas: Art Heroes & Music Heroes, 2010-2021

September 15, 2022
in Ceramic art
A Thousand Beautiful Things (Portrait of Annie Lennox)
Producer of Preposterous Pictures of Peculiar People Who Prowl This Perplexing Planet (Portrait of Basil Wolverton)
Big Daddy ll (Portrait of Ed “Big Daddy” Roth)
Bob (Portrait of Robert Arneson)
Calder (Portrait of Alexander Calder)
This ain’t no red haring (Portrait of Keith Haring)
Dr. Gladstone has left the Planet (Portrait of Clayton Bailey)
Crumb (Portrait of Robert Crumb)
How to get whipped cream on a pie (Portrait of Rube Goldberg)
Up Above My Head, I Hear Music In The Air (Portrait of Sister Rosetta Tharpe)
The Fab Four
Exhibition view, Out of Our Minds

Tony Natsoulas: Art Heroes & Music Heroes, 2010-2021

My recent work consists of larger-than-life ceramic busts; satirically depicting the general nature and eccentricities of my subjects. Humor plays an integral part in the physiological make-up of each character. I use a lot of texture also to bring more energy to each figure. The use of bold, vivid color and the exaggerated gestures also add a dimension in creating the personality and mood of the busts/characters.

Series 1: Art Heroes
This series was a result of wanting to not stay stagnate in my techniques and look of each piece. I chose artists that had an impact in my childhood and later influenced my art making. I examined each artist’s work and tried to incorporated their ideas in the portraits I made of each of them. I made a total of 9 artists. Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, Robert Arneson, Basil Wolverton, Pablo Picasso, Keith Haring, Rube Goldberg, Alexander Calder and Clayton Bailey.

Series 2: Music Heroes
I have always wanted to be a musician, playing saxophone in high school and later on bass guitar. This series is to honor the musician that give back to society. I made portraits of the Beatles, Maceo Parker, Annie Lennox, Carlos Santana, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. All of them have made breakthroughs in music and activism.

Photo captions

  • A Thousand Beautiful Things (Portrait of Annie Lennox), 2021, Ceramic, wood, found metal legs and neon by Tesla neon, 73 x 53 x 23 in.
  • Producer of Preposterous Pictures of Peculiar People Who Prowl This Perplexing Planet(Portrait of Basil Wolverton), 2015, Ceramic and Wire, 68 x 26 x 24 in.
    Permanent collection of Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti, Shrem Museum of Art
  • Big Daddy ll (Portrait of Ed “Big Daddy” Roth), 2010, Ceramic, glass, and wire
    60 x 27 x 24 in. Car by Jeffery Beckerleg Permanent collection of Big Daddy Museum, Manti, UT
  • Bob (Portrait of Robert Arneson), 2011, Ceramic and metal base, 96 x 22 x 28 in. Private Collection, Sacramento, CA
  • Calder (Portrait of Alexander Calder), 2021, Ceramic and Metal. Mobile made by Joe Scarpa, 68 x 36 x 28 in.
  • This ain’t no red haring (Portrait of Keith Haring), 2021, Ceramic, 93 x 24 x 24 in.
  • Dr. Gladstone has left the Planet (Portrait of Clayton Bailey), 2021, ceramic, glass marbles, wire, LED lights, 41 x 28 x 28 in. Permanent collection: Monterey Museum of Art
  • Crumb (Portrait of Robert Crumb), 2013, Ceramic, 48 x 36 x 24 in.
  • How to get whipped cream on a pie (Portrait of Rube Goldberg), 2021, Ceramic, wood, found metal table and found pipe, 83 x 53 x 48 in.
  • Up Above My Head, I Hear Music In The Air (Portrait of Sister Rosetta Tharpe), 2021, Ceramic, Steel, and Wood, 72 x 36 x 36 in.
  • The Fab Four, 2001, Ceramic, Each figure: 39 x 26 x 16 in.
  • Exhibition view, Out of Our Minds: Clayton Bailey & Tony Natsoulas at Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, Sonoma, 2022
Tags: Tony Natsoulas

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Comments 1

  1. Phil Bonham says:
    3 years ago

    Inspirational. Some of the works appear to have not been fired…if so, can they be called ceramic?

    Reply

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