Ken Luce
Born in Houston in 1950, Ken Luce attended Milby High School, then the University of Houston where he worked alongside Julian Schnabel, Luce’s friend since childhood. He received a BFA in 1973 and then an MFA in 1978 from the school’s fledgling graduate art program. Working from a studio on the ship channel, Luce was a familiar presence in the Houston art community, with a solo show at the Galveston Art Center in 1983 and participated in group shows at the Lawndale Annex, DiverseWorks, and the Blaffer Gallery. His work was handled by Houston’s DuBose Gallery from 1976-83; by Davis/McClain Gallery from 1987-93; and by Barbara Davis Gallery from 1995-97. Luce’s early paintings celebrated beach culture: marlins, Hawaiian shirts, sharks, toy boats, often surrounded by luxuriously rippling water. Surfboards, kayak paddles, and fishing poles all made their way into Luce’s assemblage sculpture. Later works turned found objects and offcast lumber into enormous masks and figural constructions. He’s also worked as an educator, at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts from 1981-87 and at San Jacinto College from 1985 to the present. In January 2011, Luce resumed showing his work after a 17-year hiatus with a solo exhibition at William Reaves Gallery.
Notes: Pete Gershon interviewed Ken Luce at his studio near Hobby Airport on January 29, 2019. It was great to catch Ken during his resurgence and see a bunch of new work in his studio. In this interview he touches on his early years growing up in Houston including his art lessons with Helen Coffey; his experience at the University of Houston as an undergraduate and graduate student; his involvement with Dubose and other galleries in Houston, New York, and Chicago; his career as an educator; and finally a brief studio tour of new and old sculpture and paintings.
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This project funded in part by the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance.