“I saw ceramics as a centerpiece – indoors or outdoors – something that lasts forever with texture and color that engages you visually and physically, a presence that can be felt and touched.” – SB
About Stan Bitters
Fresno artist Stan Bitters' career in ceramics has spanned more than six decades. Bitters’ influence has been present in the language of California architecture and landscape design since the 1960s. His large-scale works include ceramic murals, sculptures, fountains, and garden pathways. These installations can still be experienced in public spaces including banks, hotels, schools, churches, industrial complexes, and shopping centers as well as private residences.
Stan graduated from UCLA in 1959 with a BA in painting. He also attended San Diego State University, and Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles. It was at Otis that he met ceramic artist and instructor Peter Voulkos. Voulkos' radical approach to clay influenced Stan's artistic direction. After he completed his education, he returned to his hometown of Fresno, CA, and became artist-in-residence at the Hans Sumpf Company, where he was given free rein to pursue his direction of environmental ceramics. He left Hans Sumpf and continued to pursue his large-scale installations. In 1976 he authored the book Environmental Ceramics, about his artistic process.
Stan Bitters' work was featured as a part of the prestigious California Design series of exhibitions and annuals that chronicled art and design in California from 1954-1976. As a bookend in time to those exhibits, he had pieces featured as part of a group show entitled Golden State of Craft 1960-1985 at the Craft and Folk Art Museum in Los Angeles, CA. This show was part of Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980, an unprecedented collaboration of more than 60 museums and other cultural institutions in Southern California, celebrating the birth of the Los Angeles art scene. Bitters' work was also exhibited at Heath Ceramics' Boiler Room in San Francisco in 2014. More recently, Stan is the subject of the documentary short film Modern Primitive by Minx Films.
Stan Bitters standing with one of his large medallions.
Signature birdhouses as featured in California Design / Eight, 1962.
Early photo of one of many large medallions installed at Duncan Ceramics in Fresno.
Stan loading kiln.
Ten10 has represented Stan Bitters since 2003, when they began presenting his work in their Silver Lake gallery (see photo above). Since then, together they have completed over 50 works, commissioned by top interior designers as well as private collectors. These installations include the seven ceramic murals at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs, CA, two site specific works at the Westfield Century City Mall in Los Angeles, and two large scale murals at the Ace Hotel in Brooklyn, NY.