Kirk Mangus

El Nino, ca. 1985

8 x 9.25 x 4

Kirk Mangus (1952-2013) was an internationally renowned ceramic artist and sculptor "known for his playful, gestural style, roughhewn forms, and experimental glazing." Born in Sharon, PA, Mangus developed an early love of art from his parents who introduced him to Toshiko Takaezu, world renowned potter. They supported his interest, sending him for classes at the Cleveland Institute of Art and then at Penland School of Crafts. His parents' inspiration and encouragement led him to earn his BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design (1975) and MFA from Washington State University, Pullman (1979). Mangus would remain friends with Takaezu throughout her life and fired her work over the years in his Anagama kilns in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Kirk Mangus was an early Resident Artist at The Clay Studio, infusing the studios with joy and creativity in the late 1970's.

Mangus was Head of Ceramics at Kent State University from 1985 till his death in 2013 and also taught at Alfred University Summer School, Cleveland Institute of Art, and Cranbrook Academy of Art. He has lectured widely across the United States and internationally. His murals, works in clay, on paper, in wood, and other media pull from a rich and diverse set of influences: ancient Greco-Roman art, mythology, Japanese woodblock prints, comic books, folk stories, from Meso-American through Middle-Eastern and Asian ceramic traditions as well as the people he saw, the places he travelled, and his own dreamworld. Mangus loved experimenting with new mediums, local materials, clay bodies, slips, kiln-building and the firing process.

Donated by Marsha Gold

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