About the Artist

Regarded as one of the preeminent ceramic artists in the American Studio Ceramics tradition to work with anagama kilns, New Jersey-based Peter Callas (1951– ) influenced an entire generation of ceramic artists. Opening February 12, 2022 at the American Museum of Ceramic Art, Peter Callas: An Enduring Legacy is a comprehensive career retrospective featuring 50 works spanning nearly 30 years of creative production. Among the 50 works featured are Callas’s stately coiled vases and organically formed expressionist sculptures, masterworks that are some of the most important American works created in the wood-fired, anagama kiln tradition. Other works on display include intimate tea bowls, selected works on paper, and the premier of an original film about the artist.

Early in his career, Callas traveled to Japan, where he was introduced to the aesthetic philosophies and wood-fired glazing techniques that motivated his future work. Inspired to construct his own anagama kiln in 1975—the first used in North America—Callas later set up a studio in New Jersey, where he continued to experiment with tunnel kilns. In his own words, kilns became Callas’s “engines for creative innovation,” and his works often bear the distinctive scorch marks of ash glazing. His innovations in wood-fired ceramics inspired countless others, including acclaimed ceramic artist Peter Voulkos, who collaborated with Callas for 23 years.

The exhibition brings together a comprehensive collection of Callas’s works, revealing the evolution of his technique from the early 1990’s to the present. The pieces gathered, ranging from abstract sculptures to expressionistic containers, highlight what curator Jo Lauria calls “the compelling results of heat, flame, and fly ash deposits.” Walking among the works included in An Enduring Legacy, viewers will be able to closely observe the nuances of creative “exchange” that occur between the artist, the clay, and the kiln.

Callas has exhibited extensively, including exhibitions at the Mashiko Museum of Ceramic Art (Japan), the Powerhouse Museum (Australia), and at the Daum Museum of Contemporary Art. His works are held in many museum collections nationally as well as in Asia, Europe, Australia, and South America. This comprehensive retrospective is Callas’s first solo exhibition at the American Museum of Ceramic Art.

Pictured: Peter Callas, Hot Pocket: 0102, 2018. 16 x 20 x 6.6 inches. Wood Fired Stoneware. Collection of David Gibson and William Ishmael.

Peter Callas: An Enduring Legacy - Circles of Commitment Reception