Viola Frey
dal 9/4/2008 al 16/5/2008
Segnalato da
9/4/2008
Viola Frey
Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco
Focus on the Figure. A selection of works that gives a visual history of her artistic process and demonstrates her interest in detritus and the evolution of her source material as it morphed from inspiration to model to maquette to artwork.
Focus on the Figure is a selection of works by Bay Area artist Viola Frey that gives
a visual history of her artistic process and demonstrates the evolution of her
source material as it morphed from inspiration to model to maquette to artwork. It
has been speculated that Frey’s process may have begun in the refuse/junk piles on
the Lodi ranch where she was raised, where broken or cast-off ornaments and
implements became rediscovered objects recycled toward more interesting ends.
Frey’s interest in detritus continued until she had amassed a vast collection of
flea market bric-a-brac – mostly molded or cast figurines made in Japan or China
after World War II - which she would arrange in narrative tableaux and document in
photographs, drawings, and paintings, or cast in clay. The vignettes might
describe personal scenes from Frey’s life or include a line up of characters –
cowboys, Indians, gods, goddesses, comic book and cartoon characters, fairytale
figures – an international cast in an obscure local drama. In her paintings and
drawings, this cast of characters often whirled around a potter’s wheel spiraling
outward from the matrix – with the artist’s hands – the “creator’s” hands - shaping
the clay and holding up the universe.
Focus on the Figure is a showcase of Frey’s ability to create a vortex of theory by
combining an artistic history with her own personal narration. Hung on a wall or
displayed like bric-a-brac on hand-built ceramic parlor tables, the sculptures also
allowed Frey to work through psychological interests and issues. Phobias,
male/female power struggles, and sibling rivalries were all grist for Frey’s ceramic
articulation, leaving viewers to ponder their symbolic significance.
Frey received her B.F.A. from California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland and
her M.F.A. from Tulane University in New Orleans. She retired as a professor from
the College of Arts and Crafts where she taught for over thirty years.
Rena Bransten Gallery
77 Geary Street - San Francisco
Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday 10:30 to 5:30, Saturdays 11 to 5.
Free admission