Adagio

One of the most important and influential ceramic artists working in the world today, Autio was instrumental in changing the face of ceramics forever. He did this along with fellow ceramic greats, Peter Voulkos and Jim Leedy, by applying the techniques of gesture and action from Abstract Expressionist painting to ceramics. Autio and his wife, Lela, and his good friend, Peter Voulkos, were all founding residents of the Archie Bray Ceramics Foundation in Helena, Montana. After leaving there, he headed the ceramics area at the University of Montana for twenty-eight years. He is now retired as Professor Emeritus of the School of Fine Arts at the University of Montana. Recipient of a voluminous number of awards and honors, including an honorary Doctorate of Art from the Maryland Institute, College of Art in Baltimore, the Tiffany Award in Montana in 1981, and in 1980, he received a National Endowment grant to work and teach at the Arabia Porcelain Factor in Finland and the University of Helsinki. This wood-fired vessel by Autio is unusual for the artist since it lacks his well-known colorful glazes. By eliminating the use of glaze and emphasizing the recording of the touch of the hand and fire on the clay, the artist’s personal interpretation materializes in the form of energetic marks on the surface of the vessel.