Stan Bitters Ceramic Mural 7' X 4' / Handmade Vintage Tiles 1971

An icon of modernist ceramics since the 1960s, Stan Bitters constructed rough assemblages of clay slabs and spoked wheels into massive murals and tall totems, upsizing his medium to an architectural scale. 

Like Toshiko Takaezu, Peter Voulkos, Paul Soldner and others, Bitters was part of a small group of American artists during the mid-20th-century who embraced imperfection in their pottery. 

Working in ceramics, a material that during the last 100 years was relegated to the supposedly lesser artistic realm of craft, Bitters and these other artists made bold, chunky pieces that served as a counterpoint to the smooth lines and overall slickness of modern and postmodern movements like Bauhaus, constructivism, minimalism, Op art and Pop art.

Hailing from Fresno, California, the self-proclaimed “old hippie” Bitters earned his bachelor’s degree in painting from UCLA. He also studied at what became Otis College in Los Angeles under Voulkos — the bad boy of American ceramics. 

Voulkos almost single-handedly spawned what came to be known as the California Clay Movement and flouted pottery’s approved techniques. He transformed clay into a vibrant, highly expressive artistic medium, and Bitters’ funky, fractured style certainly shows it. 

Bitters later became associated with organic modernism and created ceramics for Hans Sumpf, a maker of adobe bricks and furniture in Madera. 

“Known for his Abstract Expressionist style, Bitters is a steadfast champion of environmental ceramics — the melding of natural, organic clay forms, sculptures and architectural elements into urban spaces to complement, transform and elevate their surroundings,” says Greg Nielson, of Dwell Floor Five, in Studio City, California.

With their sputtery glazes and graffiti-esque glyphs, Bitters’s works exude raw, countercultural energy.

Find Stan Bitters decorative objects, garden ornaments, planters and other furniture for sale on 1stDibs.

Ten10 is a Los Angeles based company founded in 1997. After years of providing custom residential and commercial design solutions to clients, we began producing a line of furniture created to provide quality, timeless products with a modernist sensibility. Our design aesthetic was further developed through work with many of the artists, architects and designers who were part of the original mid-century modernist movement in Southern California. Our products are manufactured exclusively in Los Angeles. Ten10 also represents California environmental ceramist Stan Bitters. Since 2003 we have completed 50+ commissions together, including murals at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs, Westfield Century City Mall, and most recently, the Ace Hotel in Brooklyn, NY.