Episode Details

Stephanie Rozene and curator Garth Johnson pick up the story of Funk Art and look at the life and work of artist Clayton Bailey who would go on to form the breakaway movement called Nut Art. Taking ceramics into a new realm of world making, eccentricity and humour, Bailey would inhabit an alter egos, stage pranks with the press and take the museum world on an unexpected journey.

Ceramics and artwork in this week’s episode include:

No Deposit No Return, 1961, Robert Arneson Critter Rider, 1960, Clayton Bailey

His and Hers, 1964, Robert Arneson

Clayton Bailey with Nite Pots, 1965

The Typewriter # 1 (Touch System), 1965, Robert Arneson

Clayton Bailey with Nite Pots, 1965

Clayton Bailey with Jughead Pots, 2011

Country Dog Gentlemen, 1972, Roy de Forest

Mountain on Wheels with Fox Fiddlers, 2019, Maija Peeples-Bright

Frog Oreos, 1990, David Gilhooley

Dr Gladstone (Clayton Bailey) uncovers Bigfoot skeleton in Port Costa, CA

Clayton Bailey’s World of Wonders Store Front

Clayton Bailey with Jughead Pots

Garth Johnson - Curator of Kaolithic Curiosities, 2011

For more great art content visit www.heni.com or visit the Heni Talks YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@HENITalks

CREDITS:

Hosts: Stephanie Rozene and guest Garth Johnson

Editor: Joe Little

Executive Producer: Emma Cahusac

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Introduction: Clayton Bailey and the Nut Artists
• 00:00:52 Peter Voulkos and the Abstract Expressionist Revolution
• 00:02:32 Harvey Littleton, Clayton Bailey, and the Wisconsin Connection
• 00:04:12 The First Funk Object: Caterpillar with Flying Buttresses
• 00:10:01 The Night Pots: Sex, Function, and Subversion
• 00:08:38 Make It Ugly: Building a Ceramics Program in Whitewater
• 00:13:24 Connecting with Robert Arneson and Moving to California
• 00:17:23 The Vermilion Festival and Experimental Education
• 00:23:59 Port Costa and the Birth of Nut Art
• 00:25:47 World Building and Imagination: The Nut Art Aesthetic
• 00:28:10 Dr. Gladstone and the Science of Kaolism
• 00:31:54 The Bigfoot Discovery and Media Pranks
• 00:32:38 The Wonders of the World Museum
• 00:35:36 Performance Art and Compression Testing
• 00:37:52 Partner in Mischief: A Personal Relationship
• 00:44:06 Legacy: The Greatest Conceptual Ceramic Artist