Angie C. Litchfield, Prose
Advanced Ceramics Midterm Paper
2/6/2001
Adventures in Clay
Clayton Bailey was born in Antigo, Wisconsin in 1939, educated at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1957 to 1962 and has been a Professor of Art ever since. From 1963 to 1967, Bailey was a Ceramics Professor at Wisconsin State University, and then moved to Hayward, California to teach at California State University, where he is currently the Professor Emeritus of Ceramics.
Since 1968, Bailey has participated in over 60 group exhibitions, and since 1974 has had 20 solo exhibitions, including a solo show at the Boise Gallery of Art in Boise, Idaho in 1984 and another solo show at Oregon School of Arts and Crafts in Portland, Oregon in 1985.
In 1987, Bailey was commissioned to design ceramic tiles for the 16th Street Station of the Sacramento, California Light Rail. These are thick porcelain tiles that resemble $16 bills that have been embedded into the pavement in various spots in the station. Bailey’s purpose with this design was to give people a good feeling when they see the tiles, because at first sight, the tiles look like real money. The tiles give people the rush that comes when they think they have found money, and upon second glance, they see that the tiles are not real money, but art.
Bailey’s work is included in 17 public collections across the United States and is also a part of one public collection in Japan. Inspired by art, science, education, and entertainment, Bailey enjoys integrating the conceptual with the physical.
I enjoy Bailey’s work because it has a funky and offbeat style to each piece. In his series of "mad doctors", Bailey takes a look into an almost sick sense of the medical field, and these sculptures sit the fence between humorous and grotesque. His philosophy of art is to make people laugh, because he feels that laughter truly is the best medicine, and I agree with this philosophy completely. Each piece has a personality of its own, and from his tear work to pinch pots to sculpture, unique forms are explored each time.
I have included some examples of Clayton Bailey’s work here with my paper, but more of his work can be seen at www.claytonbailey.com.
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