Clayton Bailey

Clayton George Bailey (March 9, 1939 – June 6, 2020), was an American artist who worked primarily in the mediums of ceramic and metal sculpture.

Clayton Bailey
Bailey in 2014
Born(1939-03-09)9 March 1939
Antigo, Wisconsin
Died6 June 2020(2020-06-06) (aged 81)
NationalityUnited States
EducationUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison, B.S., 1961 M.S., 1962
Known forSculpture, Ceramics, Performance
MovementFunk art, Nut art
Spouse(s)Betty G. Bailey
Awards
  • National Endowment for the Arts Recipient 1979 & 1990
  • Fellow National Council on Education in Ceramic Arts (1982)
  • "Golden Bear Artist of the Year" Award and Commendation from the California Arts Council and the Lt. Governor of the State of California (2009)

Career

Bailey attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he received a B.S. degree in 1961, followed by an M.S. in Art and Art Education in 1962.[1]

In 1962, Bailey served as a technical assistant to Harvey Littleton, who was conducting glassblowing seminars at the Toledo Museum of Art.

Over the next five years, Bailey traveled the country accepting invitations to teach, from the People's Art Center in St. Louis, Missouri to positions with the University of Iowa, and the University of South Dakota. During this period Bailey received a Louis Comfort Tiffany grant (1963), and was appointed artist-in-residence at University of Wisconsin–Whitewater, where he taught ceramics for the following three years.[1]

At the request of Robert Arneson, Bailey taught Arneson's classes at the University of California, Davis while Arneson was on sabbatical in 1967. In 1968, Bailey relocated to northern California, where he became a leading figure in the ceramic vein of the regional Funk art movement, pioneered by Arneson. Much of the Funk art activity was centered around UC Davis, where other prominent figures in the movement (Roy De Forest, Manuel Neri, William T. Wiley, David Gilhooly, Chris Unterseher, Margaret Dodd) either taught, or attended classes.[2]

A leading venue for exhibiting Funk art was at the Candy Store Gallery, located in nearby Folsom, California, where Bailey would regularly present work in the context of both solo and group shows.[3]

In 1968, Bailey began teaching at California State University, Hayward (now California State University, East Bay). He retired from this position in June 1996, with the title of Professor Emeritus of Ceramics.[1]

In 1970, Bailey established a home-studio space in rural Port Costa, California, where he became neighbors with fellow artist Roy De Forest.[2] The two collaborated on numerous projects,[1] and remained friends until De Forest's death in 2007.

Overlapping the Funk art movement was Nut art, a term coined by De Forest,[4] which brought together many of the same practitioners including Arneson, De Forest, and Gilhooly, along with Peter Saul, Jerry Gooch, Victor Cicanski, Richard Shaw, David Zack. In 1972, Bailey co-curated the first-ever Nut art show at California State University, Hayward.[1]

Stylistically, Bailey's work bridged several different categories and styles including Funk art, Nut art, ceramic and metallic sculpture, and Performance art. A recurring thread through all his work is humor,[2] along with a high degree of craftsmanship.[5]

Another track for artistic expression developed with the creation of Bailey's alter ego Dr. George Gladstone, beginning in 1969. Initially, the works blended performance and creations based on pseudo-science and personal mythologies.[6] Works included the creation of fossilized remains (usually ceramic or from earth materials) and the classification of a new time period, the Pre-Credulous Era, the source of such Kaolithic curiosities as a cyclops skull and a Bigfoot skeleton.[1] Dressed in a lab coat and pith helmet,[2] Bailey as Dr. Gladstone performed excavations and staged performances and pranks. The World of Wonders, a traveling museum dedicated to Dr. Gladstone's life and work was developed, and presented in various venues, beginning with the Richmond Art Center. In 1976, The World of Wonders Museum opened in downtown Port Costa, where it became a local tourist attraction until its closure in 1978. The collection is now split between Bailey's home-studio, and the Bailey Art Museum in downtown Crockett, California.[2]

Robot exhibit at the Bailey Art Museum

Over the years, the Dr. Gladstone character evolved into something more akin to a mad scientist, allowing Bailey to explore other forms of art with pseudo-scientific origins and associations.[2] Most notable have been sculptures based on robots, beginning in the late 1970s and continuing on to today, although this work is now presented, and credited as Bailey's, not Dr. Gladstone's. The latest offshoot of the metallic sculpture (built from found materials and objects) had been a series of Space Guns.[1]

In 1974, Bailey was profiled in Esquire Magazine as Dr. Gladstone. In the article written by Susan Subtle, "Their Arts Belong to Dada",[7] Bailey was featured alongside artists Lowell Darling, Anna Banana, Ant Farm (group), Futzie Nutzle, Dr. Brute & Lady Brute, Mr. Peanut, Irene Dogmatic, AA Bronson, Captain Video, Flakey Rose Hip, Henry Humble, The Gluers[8] and Dickens Bascom, Don and Rae Davis, and T.R. Uthco.

Bailey continued to work in a variety of mediums and styles until his death. Throughout his career as an artist, Bailey exhibited regularly throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia in both solo and group exhibitions. In 2011, Bailey was honored with a 50-year retrospective exhibition (Clayton Bailey's World of Wonders) at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, California.[2]

Bailey and his wife (fellow artist Betty Bailey), resided in Port Costa, California from 1970 until their deaths.[2] Betty died on March 20, 2019. Bailey died at his Port Costa home on June 6, 2020. His health had deteriorated after a stroke in 2019.[9]

Bailey Art Museum

In 2013, Bailey and his wife, artist Betty G. Bailey, founded the Bailey Art Museum in Crockett, California.[10] The Bailey Art Museum is near the Bailey's former residence and studio in Port Costa.[11] The 3,200 square feet (300 m2) space brings together works from across the artist's five decades plus career featuring examples of Funk art, Nut art, ceramics, and metal sculpture (including robots and space guns), as well as pseudo-scientific curiosities by the artist's alter-ego Dr. Gladstone. The museum also includes narrative watercolor drawings by Betty G. Bailey and a gift shop.[12]

Betty G. Bailey and Clayton Bailey at the Peace Terrace in Oakland, CA - 2014

Awards and honors

Public collections

Selected Public Collections

References

  1. DePaoli, G. Joan; Bailey, Clayton (2000). Clayton Bailey : happenings in the circus of life (1st ed.). Davis, CA: John Natsoulas Press. p. 159. ISBN 188157282X.
  2. Daniels, Diana L. (2011). Clayton Bailey's World Of Wonders. Sacramento, California, USA: Crocker Art Museum. pp. 22, 44, 115. ISBN 9781884038228.
  3. Smithsonian Archives of American Art. "The Candy Store Gallery Records". SmithsonianArchivesOfAmericanArt. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  4. Linhares, Philip E. (2011). Clayton Bailey's World Of Wonders. Sacramento, California, USA: Crocker Art Museum. p. 8. ISBN 9781884038228.
  5. Albright, Thomas (1985). Art in the San Francisco Bay Area, 1845-1980 : [an illustrated history]. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press. p. 231. ISBN 0-520-05518-7.
  6. Albright, Thomas (1985). Art in the San Francisco Bay Area, 1845-1980 : [an illustrated history]. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press. pp. 231–232. ISBN 0520055187.
  7. Subtle, Susan (August 1974). "Their Arts Belong to Dada". Esquire Magazine.
  8. "Literrata: Mill Valley's Unknown Museum and the Gluers Junk Art Movement". Literrata. 9 August 2017.
  9. Whiting, Sam (June 8, 2020). "Clayton Bailey, pioneer of 'Nut Art' and the Port Costa Sky Cam, has died". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  10. "Bailey Art Museum - Robots of Clayton Bailey, Crockett, California". RoadsideAmerica.com.
  11. Linhares, Diana L. Daniels ; with essays by Philip E.; Frank, Patrick (2011). Clayton Bailey's world of wonders. Sacramento, CA: Crocker Art Museum. pp. 1, 7–8. ISBN 978-1-8840-3822-8.
  12. Hamlin, Jesse (4 April 2013). "Bay Area arts news". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  13. "Clayton Bailey's Curious Creations". American Craft Council. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  14. "Bailey Art Museum / Wonders of the World Museum". Spaces Archives. 2016-01-21. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  15. "NEA-Annual-Report-1979" (PDF). arts.gov.
  16. Candice Finn. "Fellows of Council". NCECA :: National Council On Education For The Ceramic Arts. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  17. , "Novelty cup for forcibly ejecting liquid", issued 1982-06-28
  18. "NEA-Annual-Report-1990" (PDF). arts.gov.
  19. "Clayton BaileyCeleste, the Robot Tea Bag". Kamm Teapot Foundation. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  20. "Press Releases". arts.ca.gov. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  21. "Phillips Academy - Addison Gallery of American Art - Clayton George Bailey, Nose Teapot". accessaddison.andover.edu. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  22. "Ceramics | ASU Art Museum". asuartmuseum.asu.edu. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  23. "Bailey | The Marks Project". www.themarksproject.org. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  24. "Buns Robot". Crocker Art Museum. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  25. Whiting, Sam (June 8, 2020). "Clayton Bailey, pioneer of 'Nut Art' and the Port Costa Sky Cam, has died". San Francisco Arts & Entertainment Guide. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  26. "Wisconsin Artists Research Bibliography". www.library.wisc.edu. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  27. "Clayworks: 20 Americans". Museum of Contemporary Craft of the American Arts Council.
  28. "Creator Record - Clayton Bailey". John Michael Kohler Arts Center.
  29. "Conversations.org: Interview: John Toki, by Richard Whittaker". www.conversations.org. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  30. "Site | LACMA Collections". collections.lacma.org. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  31. "The Mint Museum | Cyclops Skull". www.mintmuseums.org. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  32. "Results – Advanced Search Objects – eMuseum". collections.madmuseum.org. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  33. "Browse the Collection | OMCA COLLECTIONS". collections.museumca.org. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  34. "Clayton Bailey | Smithsonian American Art Museum". americanart.si.edu. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  35. "Crazy form, emotional function - Arts & Culture - Arts&Culture - October 20, 2011". Sacramento News & Review. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  36. "Dog Lamp". SFMOMA. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  37. "Clayton Bailey | Objects". collection.sjmusart.org. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  38. "Conversations.org: A Conversation with Clayton Bailey, by richard whittaker". www.conversations.org. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
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