{{Short description|American artist (1915–1998)}} {{Infobox person | name = Theodore Odza | image = Theodore Odza.jpg | other_names = Ted Odza | birth_date = {{Birth date|1915|01|07}} | birth_place = New York City, New York, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1998|02|19|1915|01|07}} | death_place = Inverness, California, U.S. | monuments = Abstract expressionism | alma_mater = University of California, Berkeley | occupation = Sculptor, painter, curator, educator }} '''Theodore "Ted" Odza''' (1915–1998) was an American artist, curator, and educator, known for his sculptures and abstract paintings. He taught art classes at University of California, Berkeley, and later served as the chair of the art department of Laney College.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |date=January 28, 1986 |title=Works of Hungarian Painters at SRJC |url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/297610130/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=2022-07-08 |website=Newspapers.com |publisher=The Press Democrat |page=15 |language=en}}</ref> Additionally, he curated multiple national touring art exhibitions of Central European artists.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7">{{Cite web |date=July 28, 1985 |title=Gallery Features Hungarian Artists |url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/297285419/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=2022-07-08 |website=Newspapers.com |publisher=The Press Democrat |page=41 |language=en}}</ref>
== Biography == Theodore Odza was born on January 7, 1915, in New York City.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Albright |first=Thomas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aGN3vXcZl74C |title=Art in the San Francisco Bay Area, 1945-1980: An Illustrated History |date=1985-01-01 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-05193-5 |pages=302 |language=en}}</ref> His father Herbert G. Odza, was born in Halych, Ukraine;<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=1975-07-02 |title=Herbert G. Odza |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/07/02/archives/herbert-g-odza.html |access-date=2022-07-08 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and his mother Lena (née Fischman) was born in New York City. There were six children in the family, five brothers and one sister.<ref name=":1" />
Odza graduated (B.A. 1959 and M.A. 1961, 1963) from University of California, Berkeley, where he studied under Sidney Gordin, Harold Paris, and Wilfrid Zogbaum.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=October 21, 1963 |title=Art Center to Hold Sculptor Exhibition |url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/354496150/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=2022-07-08 |website=Newspapers.com |publisher=Oakland Tribune |page=17 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Monte |first=James |date=September 1963 |title=James Monte on Ted Odza and Mildred Lachman |url=https://www.artforum.com/print/reviews/196309/ted-odza-and-mildred-lachman-76999 |access-date=2022-07-07 |website=Artforum.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Polley |first=E. M. |date=December 1963 |title=E. M. Polley on Ted Odza and Crown Point Workshop |url=https://www.artforum.com/print/reviews/196312/ted-odza-crown-point-workshop-79457 |access-date=2022-07-08 |website=Artforum.com |language=en-US}}</ref>
In the 1960s and 1970s, he made abstract expressionist metal sculptures, often constructed with steel or bronze.<ref name=":0" />
In 1963 to 1964, Odza taught at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw ({{langx|pl|Akademia Sztuk Pięknych w Warszawie}}).<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lqLZWN4XUnkC |title=Exchanges and Cooperation with the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe |date=1960 |publisher=United States Department of State, Office of Soviet and Eastern European Exchanges |volume=15 |pages=33 |language=en}}</ref> During his time in Poland he created many new artist connections, and in the following years he curated national touring art exhibitions of Central European artists. Most notably, he curated the exhibition ''Contemporary Painters from Hungary'' (1985) at Gallery Route One.<ref name=":7" />
Odza's work can be found in public museum art collections include San Francisco Museum of Modern Art,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Odza, Theodore |url=https://www.sfmoma.org/artist/theodore-odza/ |access-date=2022-07-08 |website=SFMOMA |language=en-US}}</ref> and Oakland Museum of California.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Theodore Odza |url=http://collections.museumca.org/?q=category/made/theodore-odza |access-date=2022-07-08 |website=OMCA Collections}}</ref>
== Personal life == Odza was married in 1940 to dancer Mimi Kagan, which ended in divorce in 1958. Odza married Janice Marie Gale Johnson in 1962.<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 18, 1962 |title=Marriage Licenses Issued |url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/71968711/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=2022-07-08 |website=Newspapers.com |publisher=Daily Independent Journal |page=9 |language=en}}</ref>
== Exhibitions ==
* September 1963 – Ted Odza and Mildred Lachman, Quay Gallery, San Francisco, California<ref name=":3" /> * October 1963 – solo exhibition of metal sculpture, Richmond Art Center, Richmond, California<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" /> * June 1964 – solo exhibition, Gallery of Contemporary Art in Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland<ref name=":5" /> * February–April 1982 – ''Theodore Odza - Welded Steel Sculpture'', Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, California * July 1982 – ''Theodore Odza Sculpture'', Douglas Elliott gallery, San Francisco, California<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 11, 1982 |title=The San Francisco Examiner from San Francisco, California on July 11, 1982 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/461057638/ |access-date=2022-07-08 |website=Newspapers.com |publisher=The San Francisco Examiner |page=267 |language=en}}</ref>
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Odza, Theodore}} Category:1915 births Category:1998 deaths Category:Artists from New York City Category:People from Inverness, California Category:Artists from Berkeley, California Category:University of California, Berkeley faculty Category:American people of Ukrainian descent Category:Abstract expressionist artists Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni Category:Laney College faculty Category:20th-century American people