William Daley

Book excerpt: William Daley's geometric ceramic vessels explore the synthesis between interior and exterior, volume and surface, form and symbol. Their unglazed surfaces echo architectural spaces and rhythms. Daley is an innovative artist-educator who helped revolutionize arts education post World War II. Success in his explorations led to many commissions for large-scale public and private screens and sculptures, executed in both bronze and ceramics. This retrospective of the ceramic art of William Daley spans two centuries, from the 1950s through the early 2000s. The text includes an essay by Ruth Fine, Curator of Special Projects for Washington's National Gallery of Art and a foreword by Daley's gallery representative Helen Drutt English. Over 300 brilliant images reveal the ceramic vessels Daley has created, including commissioned work. Also included in the text are William Daley's essays and articles on transforming mud to fired stoneware, his use of "sacred geometry," descriptions of his process in building pots and sculptural commissions, as well as his thoughts on teaching.