Biography

Peter VandenBerge helped spawn the ceramic sculpture movement in Northern California in the 1960s, and emerged as an important figure in the Davis school following his debut in the exhibition The Lighter Side of Bay Area Figuration, shown at the San Jose Museum of Art in 2000. Drawn to the University of California, Davis, by Robert Arneson, VandenBerge quickly joined the ranks of the Davis ceramic sculptors who repeatedly bucked mainstream art trends with their humor, their love of clay, and their unfailing interest in lowbrow subjects. Alongside fellow artists Arneson, David Gilhooly, and Richard Shaw, VandenBerge approached ceramics in a new way, imbuing it with distinct personality and working to elevate it to a vehicle of fine art creation.
Growing up in Indonesia, where his father conducted research for the Netherlands Pacific Petroleum Company, VandenBerge led a nomadic life throughout most of his childhood. In the early 1940s, in the midst of World War II, the artist was moved into a prison camp with his family. While in the camp, VandenBerge discovered art making for the first time, using it as a way to pass the time. His mother, who was very supportive of his creative interests, encouraged him throughout his developmental years to continue to pursue art. In 1954, VandenBerge moved to California and enrolled at California State University, Sacramento, where he earned a B.A. In 1962, after meeting Arneson, VandenBerge transferred to the University of California, Davis. It was here that he began to move away from traditional ceramics and to experiment with new techniques and subjects. Inspired by the surrounding agricultural landscape and the free-spirited attitude of the Davis artists, VandenBerge began using humor to address the absurdities of life. Like Gilhooly, who adopted the frog as his comic outlet, VandenBerge started to use anthropomorphic root vegetables in the late 1960s in order to parody the human condition. Though he initially experimented with a variety of vegetables, the artist eventually selected carrots as the ideal candidate for his humorous antics. He began posing carrots in a range of guises; carrots were shown lounging about in bed, relaxing in a bubble bath, playing tennis, and even catching an evening flick. Couple Watching Saturday Night Movie (1969) is a key example of VandenBerge’s cunning wit. Here we see the bushy-headed root vegetables intertwined on an over-stuffed chair, presumably enjoying an evening at home. It appears that VandenBerge has taken the “couch potato” cliché to a literal extreme: the carrots, and even the chair, seem to be sprouting roots, as if they have literally become “rooted” on the spot.1

By the mid-1970s, however, VandenBerge abandoned the carrot and began building large ceramic busts, which were inspired by the traditions of native tribes of Madagascar and women that VandenBerge saw as a child in Indonesia. Unlike the carrot works with their overtly funny motifs, the ceramic busts are mildly irreverent. With elongated heads and absurd headgear, the busts each divulge a contemporary narrative. In Demoiselle (2003) a woman with a demure expression and downcast eyes carries a teapot, decorated with a sailboat, on her head. The pot indicates the woman’s experience as a hostess, but her serious expression suggests that she is not content with her situation. Scenes painted along the base of the sculpture corroborate this interpretation. Along the front, a small town with buses, cars, buildings, and homes illustrates the monotony of the woman’s life. On the other hand, the images of the ocean and the seafaring vessels that adorn the sides of the base suggest that she dreams of adventure. The base of the sculpture therefore serves two distinct purposes—it is a technical support for the object, but perhaps more importantly, it is narrative support for the story.

As a skilled ceramic sculptor, VandenBerge has achieved technical virtuosity and sophistication as a colorist throughout his long career. His works can be appreciated for their formal values, exemplifying the artist’s ability to skillfully handle clay. While VandenBerge’s works are impressive in their construction, his art also contains layers of meaning that reveal hidden themes beneath his playful humor. His sculptures communicate a fascination with the absurdities of everyday life and encourage viewers to find pleasure in the comedy of errors that so often colors experience. —L.W.

1. Susan Landauer, The Not-So-Still Life: A Century of California Painting and Sculpture (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003), 120.

(SJMA Selections publication, 2004)


Peter VandenBerge was born in The Hague, Netherlands in 1935. He received his B.A. from CSU Sacramento (1959) and his M.A. from UC Davis (1963). The artist currently teaches at Sacramento State University. He has had solo exhibitions at the Oakland Museum of California (1997), the Candy Store Gallery in Folsom, California (1963; 1969; 1971; 1977; 1979; 1981; 1984; 1985; 1986) and the Crocker Art Museum (1985). He has been included in group exhibitions at the American Craft Museum in New York, the Newport Harbor Art Museum, the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park in Lincoln, Massachusetts, and The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.  His work is included in the collections of the Oakland Museum of California, and the Crocker Art Museum. (SJMA Collections Committee, 2000)

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