John Mason
Red X1966

On view:

Geffen Galleries, Earth and Water

Wood sculpture in a deep crimson-red finish shaped like a large X with four square-cornered arms, showing visible wood grain and fine surface cracks

Painted wood sculpture in deep red, forming a square block with four symmetrical concave notches cut at each corner, creating an X-shaped negative space. Surface shows visible wood grain, cracking paint, and hairline splits near the base.

Artist or Maker: John Mason
United States, Nebraska, 1927–2019, active Los Angeles
Title: Red X
Place Made: United States
Date Made: 1966
Medium: Stoneware
Dimensions: 58 1/2 x 59 1/2 x 17 in. (148.59 x 151.13 x 43.18 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of the Kleiner Foundation
Accession Number: M.73.38.11
Classification: Sculpture
Collecting Area: Modern Art
Curatorial Notes: Mason was one of the first artists, along with his teacher and colleague Peter Voulkos, to use clay in creating sculptural forms rather than just utilitarian ware, as had been the traditional focus of pottery. In Red X, Mason utilizes the geometry of the X’s intersecting planes to produce an exaggerated sense of volume. His exuberantly colored ceramics demonstrate the pliability and suppleness of clay while retaining its monumental and solid presence.

Stephanie Barron
Selected Bibliography: Lauria, Jo; Color and Fire - Defining Moments in Studio Ceramics, 1950-2000; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, 2000.
Powell III, Earl A., Robert Winter, and Stephanie Barron. The Robert O. Anderson Building. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1986.
Tuchman, Maurice. The Kleiner Foundation: Gift of Contemporary Art. Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1973.
Koplos, Janet, and Bruce Metcalf. Makers: a History of American Studio Craft. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010.
MacNaughton, Mary Davis, ed. Clay's Tectonic Shift, 1956-1968: John Mason, Ken Price, Peter Voulkos. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum; Claremont, CA: Scripps College, Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery, 2012.
Copyright: © John Mason

John Mason
Red X1966

On view:

Geffen Galleries, Earth and Water

Artist or Maker: John Mason
United States, Nebraska, 1927–2019, active Los Angeles
Title: Red X
Place Made: United States
Date Made: 1966
Medium: Stoneware
Dimensions: 58 1/2 x 59 1/2 x 17 in. (148.59 x 151.13 x 43.18 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of the Kleiner Foundation
Accession Number: M.73.38.11
Classification: Sculpture
Collecting Area: Modern Art
Curatorial Notes: Mason was one of the first artists, along with his teacher and colleague Peter Voulkos, to use clay in creating sculptural forms rather than just utilitarian ware, as had been the traditional focus of pottery. In Red X, Mason utilizes the geometry of the X’s intersecting planes to produce an exaggerated sense of volume. His exuberantly colored ceramics demonstrate the pliability and suppleness of clay while retaining its monumental and solid presence.

Stephanie Barron
Selected Bibliography: Lauria, Jo; Color and Fire - Defining Moments in Studio Ceramics, 1950-2000; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, 2000.
Powell III, Earl A., Robert Winter, and Stephanie Barron. The Robert O. Anderson Building. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1986.
Tuchman, Maurice. The Kleiner Foundation: Gift of Contemporary Art. Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1973.
Koplos, Janet, and Bruce Metcalf. Makers: a History of American Studio Craft. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010.
MacNaughton, Mary Davis, ed. Clay's Tectonic Shift, 1956-1968: John Mason, Ken Price, Peter Voulkos. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum; Claremont, CA: Scripps College, Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery, 2012.