Marcus Villagrán

Artist’s Statement

Since childhood my skills in two and three dimensional art forms took me to partnerships in all levels of study with private schools, city, and state colleges, studying and teaching. I’ve always loved the classical periods of art history, especially those of Mediterranean areas including Moorish and East Indian cultures. Early on I found that clay and glazes offered me ways to reinterpret the ideas I admired. My rewards and awards include Sacramento Arts and Crafts juried by Peter Voulkos, Best of Show: Sculpture 1962 and Best of Show award Contemporary Clay 2006 judged by Bryan Yancey, and Western Regional Juried Exhibition, Grand Junction, Colorado.

Biography

In the sixties, Marcus worked in Los Angeles at North Hoover Street studios where he met Mike Mullen, John Mason, Peter Voulkos, and Mike Frimkess. With them he shared a desire to bring vigor, playfulness and “naturalness” to works in clay.

Though for many years he earned a living as a production potter, his life work has been bold sculpture. Throughout his career he has received many awards for both metal and clay sculptures in competitions around the country. He earned degrees from Otis and Chouinard.

In 2012, he moved to upstate New York. Gilbertsville and surrounding communities welcomed him with gallery shows in Oneonta, Franklin and Cooperstown. There was a fundraiser/ show to benefit Heifer International in Butternuts and Greene County Council on the Arts, Catskill Gallery put on a show entitled “Burnt Offerings” in 2014. The State University College at Oneonta invited him to show in the Regional Show, “Independent Spirit” at the Martin Mullen Art Gallery in 2016. By that time he had started his own gallery, Dunderberg Gallery, in Gilbertsville New York.