Kujundzic, Zeljko
Item
Maker Name
Kujundzic, Zeljko
Biography
Zeljko Kujundzic is one of BC's most under-recognized artists. He produced art in many media: painting, graphics, woodcarving, jewelry, metal sculpture, pottery, and ceramic sculpture.
Throughout his career, he often exhibited two or three of these in the same exhibition or combined them in the same piece of art. This, along with his enormous output of work made in studios located in BC and the US and shown around the world, makes a focused study of his ceramics challenging.
Therefore, the following biography and exhibition summary only skims the surface of Kujundzic's career in pottery, ceramic murals, and ceramic sculpture. A look at other resources listed below may give a fuller picture of his ceramic output.
European-trained, Kujundzic was a resident of Scotland for 10 years where, among other activities, he produced pottery that was illustrated in the publication Decorative Art The Studio Yearbook in the late 1950s.
On immigrating to Canada in 1958, Kujundzic put his energy into founding the Kootenay School of Art in Nelson, serving as its first principal between 1960 and 1964. Two purposes of the School were to promote artistic development in a sparsely populated part of BC and to encourage the use of local materials in craft. In that spirit, he created two important pieces of work: the Mayor's Chain of Office for the City of Nelson using locally sourced silver and gold (1962) - exhibited at Expo 67 - and a large ceramic mural of 5000 tiles made from local Kootenay Lake clay for the Peebles Motor Hotel in Nelson in 1963.
With the hiring of potter/sculptor Santo Mignosa in 1962, and Walter Dexter in 1967, the Kootenay School of Art would become an important ceramic centre well into the 1970s.
In 1964, Kujundzic and his family moved to Kelowna where he established the Kelowna Art Centre, a home/studio/gallery, for his many artistic activities which included pottery, ceramic sculpture, and teaching. With others, he established the artists' group Okanagan Five (ca 1965) which included fellow potter Des Loan and the Okanagan Summer Arts Festival (1967).
In 1964 his lifelong interest in Indigenous cultures began to manifest itself through the annual pottery- making workshops he conducted with Indigenous people in BC's Interior until 1969.
His involvement with Indigenous peoples continued when he participated in a Pueblo pottery workshop in New Mexico in 1974.
From 1968 to 1982, Kujundzic was professor and head of the art department at the Fayette campus of Penn State University in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. During this period, he made pottery, taught ceramics at the University, and conducted workshops and lectures around Pennsylvania. His pottery was exhibited widely in the state, and in the mid 70s he was commissioned to produce a 7’6” tall ceramic wall mural – entitled ‘Chief and His Eagle’ - for the First Federal Bank in Bellevue, Pennsylvania.
He was one of 15 potters representing the US at the Second International Ceramic Exhibition in Poland in 1973 where he won an award.
With ongoing support from Penn State, he invented a solar kiln in 1976, which was later refined to improve performance and affordability.
During his time in Pennsylvania, he returned to the Okanagan in the summer, moving to the area permanently after his retirement in 1982. During the 80s and 90s he established studios in Osoyoos, BC and Entiat, Washington and continued to exhibit art in several media in BC, Washington state and around the world. A partial list of ceramics-related exhibitions is shown below:
Throughout his career, he often exhibited two or three of these in the same exhibition or combined them in the same piece of art. This, along with his enormous output of work made in studios located in BC and the US and shown around the world, makes a focused study of his ceramics challenging.
Therefore, the following biography and exhibition summary only skims the surface of Kujundzic's career in pottery, ceramic murals, and ceramic sculpture. A look at other resources listed below may give a fuller picture of his ceramic output.
European-trained, Kujundzic was a resident of Scotland for 10 years where, among other activities, he produced pottery that was illustrated in the publication Decorative Art The Studio Yearbook in the late 1950s.
On immigrating to Canada in 1958, Kujundzic put his energy into founding the Kootenay School of Art in Nelson, serving as its first principal between 1960 and 1964. Two purposes of the School were to promote artistic development in a sparsely populated part of BC and to encourage the use of local materials in craft. In that spirit, he created two important pieces of work: the Mayor's Chain of Office for the City of Nelson using locally sourced silver and gold (1962) - exhibited at Expo 67 - and a large ceramic mural of 5000 tiles made from local Kootenay Lake clay for the Peebles Motor Hotel in Nelson in 1963.
With the hiring of potter/sculptor Santo Mignosa in 1962, and Walter Dexter in 1967, the Kootenay School of Art would become an important ceramic centre well into the 1970s.
In 1964, Kujundzic and his family moved to Kelowna where he established the Kelowna Art Centre, a home/studio/gallery, for his many artistic activities which included pottery, ceramic sculpture, and teaching. With others, he established the artists' group Okanagan Five (ca 1965) which included fellow potter Des Loan and the Okanagan Summer Arts Festival (1967).
In 1964 his lifelong interest in Indigenous cultures began to manifest itself through the annual pottery- making workshops he conducted with Indigenous people in BC's Interior until 1969.
His involvement with Indigenous peoples continued when he participated in a Pueblo pottery workshop in New Mexico in 1974.
From 1968 to 1982, Kujundzic was professor and head of the art department at the Fayette campus of Penn State University in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. During this period, he made pottery, taught ceramics at the University, and conducted workshops and lectures around Pennsylvania. His pottery was exhibited widely in the state, and in the mid 70s he was commissioned to produce a 7’6” tall ceramic wall mural – entitled ‘Chief and His Eagle’ - for the First Federal Bank in Bellevue, Pennsylvania.
He was one of 15 potters representing the US at the Second International Ceramic Exhibition in Poland in 1973 where he won an award.
With ongoing support from Penn State, he invented a solar kiln in 1976, which was later refined to improve performance and affordability.
During his time in Pennsylvania, he returned to the Okanagan in the summer, moving to the area permanently after his retirement in 1982. During the 80s and 90s he established studios in Osoyoos, BC and Entiat, Washington and continued to exhibit art in several media in BC, Washington state and around the world. A partial list of ceramics-related exhibitions is shown below:
First name
Zeljko
Last name
Kujundzic
Career dates (start and end)
1955
2000
Date of Birth
1920
Date of Death
2003
Place of Birth
Subotica, Yugoslavia
Place of Death
Studio location
Formal Education
Major Exhibitions
Ceramic Sculpture (solo), Instituto Allende, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, 1967
Second International Ceramic Exhibition (group), Poland, 1973
Retrospect 80, Potters Guild of BC, Vancouver, BC, 1980
1st World Triennial Exhibition of Small Ceramics (group), Zagreb Yugoslavia, 1984
Washington Potters Association (group), Seattle Center, Seattle WA, 1985
Ceramics (solo), Nahan Gallery, New York, NY, 1986
International Ceramics Exhibitions (group), Tajimi (a ceramic centre), Japan 1985, 1987
International Contemporary Ceramics (group, juried, travelling), North Central Washington Museum, 1987
International Ceramics (group), Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland, 1990
Prints and Ceramic pit-fired sculptures, ceramics created in Kecskemet, Hungary (solo) Gulacsy Gallery, Budapest, Hungary, 1991
International Small Ceramics (group, juried), Zagreb, Croatia, 1993
Morris Art Gallery, Victoria, BC, 2011
Modern in the Making Post-war Craft and Design in BC, VAG, 2020
Collections
Tajimi High School collection, Japan, “Matriarchy” sculpture,
Kyoto National Museum and Art Gallery collection, “Warrior” ceramic sculpture
Bellevue Art Museum Collection, Seattle, “Mother and Child” ceramic sculpture
Affiliated organizations
Tag
Links to Further Resources
claireart.ca website
torncanvas.ca website
studiopotterycanada.ca website
Zeljko Kujundzic at Morris Art Gallery You Tube video
Decorative Art The Studio Yearbook, 1956-57, 1957-58, 1959-1960
Arts West magazine, vol 1, #4, 1976
Zeljko Kujundzic and the Early Years of the Kootenay School of the Arts,
Modern in the Making Post-war Craft and Design in BC, VAG catalogue
Source
Allan Collier
Linked resources
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