In 1996, L.A. Louver hosted its first ever solo exhibition of works by Ken Price. Profiled by Kristine McKenna in the Los Angeles Times for this exhibition, here’s an excerpt from the text:

“As the Faberge of Funk, Ken Price has no rivals,” declares art critic Robert Hughes, who describes Price’s work as resembling “exquisitely glazed versions of stuff you’d want to scrape off your boot.” Touted by critic Peter Schjeldahl as “the most important underrated living American artist,” Price has long been one of L.A.’s most invisible local heroes. 

-Kristine McKenna, Los Angeles Times, Sunday, January 7, 1996

“My favorite American artist of the 20th century is Charlie Parker and I’ve listened to jazz just about every day my life –– I think it’s affected my art too,” he says. “I work intuitively and believe in the idea of skill as a highway to the unconscious. I think you have to master your materials so well that you don’t need to think about technical things when ideas start to flow.”

-Ken Price, Los Angeles Times, Sunday, January 7, 1996

We are counting down the days to the opening of Ken Price Sculpture: A Retrospective at LACMA, which begins on Sunday, September 16, 2012!

Images top to bottom: L.A. Louver announcement for Ken Price (January 11 - February 10, 1996); Los Angeles Times, January 7, 1996