Viola Frey
Untitled (Bricolage with Hand, Cat, and other Small Figurines), 1995
Ceramic and glazes
15.5 x 10 x 7.75 in (39.4 x 25.4 x 19.7 cm)
Viola Frey
Untitled (Orange Monkey Riding Horse), 2002
Ceramic and Glazes
26 x 26 x 6 in (66 x 66 x 15.2 cm)
Viola Frey
Untitled (Woman Seated and Leaning Over II), 1985
Bronze and gold leaf
16.25 x 19 x 11.25 in (41.3 x 48.3 x 28.6 cm)
Viola Frey
Untitled (Pink Ears and Red Lips Bricolage), 1984-85
Ceramic and glazes
43 x 22 x 17 in (109.2 x 55.9 x 43.2 cm)
Viola Frey
Untitled, 1986
Pastel on paper
30 x 44 in (76.2 x 111.8 cm)
Viola Frey
Untitled (Bricolage, Man Holding Mother and Child), 1985-87
Ceramic and glazes
36.5 x 25 x 12 in (92.7 x 63.5 x 30.5 cm)
Viola Frey
Untitled (Man with Meissen Figurine), 1982
Oil and acrylic on paper
60 x 40 in (152.4 x 101.6 cm)
The artist in her 3rd Street Studio, Oakland, CA
VIOLA FREY
(1933-2004, b. Lodi, CA)
Over the course of her five-decade career, Viola Frey created boldly colored figurative sculptures, paintings, and works on paper that reflect on contemporary culture, power, and gender dynamics. While most closely aligned with the Bay Area Funk movement, Frey’s immense creative output delves into many aesthetic directions, using a distinctive and personal iconography and palette to depict human figures among objects of antiquity, flea market collectibles, and interior landscapes. Frey considered herself a bricoleur – a junk accumulator – by reinterpreting collectable figurines, philosophical ideas, personal experience, and color theory freely to create new meaning in ceramic and bronze. Her works on paper and paintings echo the sculptures, creating a dynamic back-and-forth conversation between media.
Frey was born in 1933 and raised on her family's vineyard in Lodi, California. In 1951, she moved to Oakland and attended California College of Arts and Crafts (CCAC, now California College of the Arts) and completed her BFA in 1955. She pursued an MFA in Painting at Tulane University, and studied under George Rickey, Katherine Choy, and visiting artist Mark Rothko. Frey left early to explore clay’s artistic capabilities at Choy’s new Clay Art Center in Port Chester, New York. After a few years, she returned to San Francisco in 1960 with a renewed energy for clay as an art form.
Frey taught at CCAC from 1964 to 1999. During her tenure as a faculty member, she served as the Ceramics Department chair, guided the design and construction of the Noni Eccles Treadwell Ceramic Arts Center on CCAC's Oakland campus, and championed the ceramic medium as an art form. Among her many accomplishments, Frey was the recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, a Masters of the Medium for Ceramics from the James Renwick Alliance, and an honorary Doctorate from CCAC.
Frey's work is held in over seventy public collections, including the Stedelijk Museum ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA; Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Boston, MA; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA.
In 2000, Viola Frey, along with artist Squeak Carnwath and community advocate Gary Knecht, co-founded Artists' Legacy Foundation, a nonprofit that manages artists’ estates and facilitates their posthumous philanthropy. Upon her death in 2004, Frey became the Foundation’s first Legacy Artist. Frey’s artwork, archives, and the annual $25,000 Artist Award are now stewarded by the Foundation.
Viola Frey: Works on Paper and Small Sculpture, 1980-1989
Over the course of her five-decade career, Viola Frey produced a body of artwork ranging from ceramic and bronze sculptures, to paintings and drawings, as well as exploring working in glass and photography. For Frieze Masters, GAVLAK will highlight the artist's largely overlooked yet equally impressive practice of working with graphite, acrylic, oil, and pastel on paper. Viola Frey (1933–2004), a painter and sculptor, was born and raised in a farm in Lodi, CA. The artist went on to study at the California College of Arts and Crafts, where she graduated with a BFA in 1956. She then studied in New Orleans under Mark Rothko and George Rickey at Tulane University and left for New York in 1957 before finishing her graduate degree. There she joined Katherine Choy who had recently founded the Clay Art Center in Port Chester. Viola Frey was a pioneer in bridging the barrier between craft and fine art to push forward the medium of ceramic sculpture in the 1960s and 1970s. A lifelong teacher and maker, she retired as professor emerita from California College of the Arts in 1999, co-founded Artists’ Legacy Foundation in 2000, and continued to work until she passed away at the age of 70 in Oakland, CA. Her works are included in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
VIOLA FREY
Born August 15, 1933, Lodi, CA
Died July 26, 2004, Oakland, CA
EDUCATION
2000 California College of the Arts (formerly CCAC), Oakland, CA, Honorary Doctorate
1955-1957 Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, Graduate Studies in Painting
1953-1955 California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, CA, BFA in Painting
1952-1953 Stockton Delta College, Stockton, CA
1951 Lodi High School, Lodi, CA
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022 After Viola, The Barn Gallery, YoloArts, Woodland, CA
Distinctly Her Own: Sculptures by Viola Frey, California Museum, Sacramento, CA
2021 Viola Frey (The Space Just Between): Sculpture and Works on Paper, GAVLAK, Palm Beach, FL
2020 Monumental: The Art of Viola Frey, Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, MI
Gods & Monsters, American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, Washington, DC
2019 Viola Frey: Her Self, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Novato, CA (catalogue)
Viola Frey: Center Stage, di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, Napa, CA (catalogue)
2018 The Future of Yesterday, James Harris Gallery, Seattle, WA
Funk/Pop: Viola Frey, Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, AZ
2015 Viola Frey: A Personal Iconography, Nancy Hoffman Gallery, New York, NY (catalogue)
2014 Collection in Focus: Viola Frey, di Rosa, Napa, CA (catalogue)
2012 Viola Frey: Echoes of Images, Nancy Hoffman Gallery, New York, NY
2010 Viola Frey: Every Man, Every Woman, Nancy Hoffman Gallery, New York, NY
Viola Frey: A Legacy in Paint and Clay, Sylvia White Gallery, Ventura, CA
2009 Bigger, Better, More: The Art of Viola Frey, Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI (catalogue);
also traveled to Gardiner Museum, Toronto, ON; Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY;
Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR
2008 Viola Frey: Focus on the Figure, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2007 Viola Frey: Relationships/Interrelationships, Nancy Hoffman Gallery, New York, NY
2005 Viola Frey: A Lasting Legacy, Nancy Hoffman Gallery, New York, NY (catalogue);
also traveled to Avampato Discovery Museum, Charleston, WV; Cameron Art Museum, Wilmington,
NC
Viola Frey, Louis Wells Cameron Art Museum, Wilmington, NC
2001 Larger than Life: Ceramic Figures by Viola Frey, Boise Art Museum, Boise, ID; also traveled to
Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV
1998 Viola Frey: Survey 1969-1981, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA (catalogue)
1997 Viola Frey: Plates, Frank Lloyd Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1996 Viola Frey: An Exhibition of Small Scale Ceramic Sculpture by a Major American Artist, Riva Yares
Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1995 Viola Frey: Arguments, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA (catalogue)
Viola Frey Ceramics: The Dinner Plates, Western Gallery, Western Washington University,
Bellingham, WA
1994 Viola Frey, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA (catalogue)
Viola Frey: Plates 1968-1994, Nancy Hoffman Gallery, New York, NY; also to Butler Institute of
American Art Youngstown, OH; Western Gallery, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA;
Art Museum South Texas, Corpus Christi, TX; Wichita Center for the Arts, Wichita, KS; Dahl Fine
Arts Center, Rapid City, SD
Viola Frey: Sculpture and Paintings, Riva Yares Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Viola Frey: Monumental Sculpture, Riva Yares Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
1992 Viola Frey: Artist's Mind/Studio/World Wallpaper and Pink Lady, The Fabric Workshop,
Philadelphia, PA
1991 Viola Frey, Fresno Art Museum, Fresno, CA (catalogue)
1990 Viola Frey, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA (catalogue)
1988 Manufacture de Sèvres, Atelier Experimental de Recherche et de Creation: Viola Frey, Hall du
Centre National
des Arts Plastiques, Paris, France
1986 Viola Frey, Asher/Faure, Los Angeles, CA
1985 Viola Frey: Paintings and Sculpture, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1984 It's All Part of the Clay: Viola Frey, Goldie Paley Gallery, Moore College of Art, Philadelphia, PA;
also traveled to Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Pittsburgh, PA; Erie Art Museum, Erie, PA
Viola Frey, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Viola Frey: Paintings and Sculpture, Greenberg Gallery, St. Louis, MO
Viola Frey: Sculpture and Painting, Asher/Faure, Los Angeles, CA
1983 Viola Frey: Paintings, Sculptures, Drawings, Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA (catalogue)
1982 Viola Frey: Figures, Art Gallery/Visual Arts Center, CSU Fullerton, Fullerton, CA
Currents 18: Viola Frey, St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO
1981 Viola Frey, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA (catalogue); also traveled to Oakland Museum,
Oakland, CA;
Sheehan Art Gallery, Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA; Blanden Memorial Gallery, Fort Dodge, IA;
Matthew’s Center, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ; Illinois State University, Normal, IL;
Huntsville Museum of Art, Huntsville, AL
1980 Viola Frey, Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1978 Viola Frey: Ceramic Artist in Residence, Purdue University CA 5 Ceramic Studio, W Lafayette, IN
1975 Viola Frey: Recent Ceramic Sculpture, Hank Baum Gallery, Century City and San Francisco, CA
1975 Viola Frey: Recent Works, Wenger+Casat Galleries, La Jolla, CA
1974 Viola Frey “Seat of Civilization” Series, Wenger Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1970 Viola Frey: Artist in Residence, Pioneer Museum, San Joaquin Delta College, Stockton, CA
1969 “Trophies in Clay” by Viola Frey, Chabot College Art Gallery, Hayward, CA
1966 Viola Frey: Pottery, Paintings, College of the Holy Names, Oakland, CA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022 On the Edge: CCA Clay, Pence Gallery, Davis, CA
2021 For the Record: Celebrating Art by Women, Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, FL
Hard/Cover, Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, PA
In Search of Lost Time, James Harris Gallery, Seattle, WA
Jennifer Rochlin, Bella Foster, and Viola Frey, The Pit, Los Angeles, CA
Linger and Flow, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fone Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Making a Mark: American Women Artists, Artis-Naples, The Baker Museum, Naples, FL
Making Knowing: Craft in Art, 1950-2019, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Presenting 4 x 8-bridges, Et al., etc. on 8-bridges.com, San Francisco, CA
Sweet Land of Funk, Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ
Reflect: Mondern and Contemporary Highlights, Honolulu Museum of art, Honolulu, HI
Starting the Fire: Ceramics in the Bay Area, Modern Art West, Sonoma, CA
Taking Space: Contemporary Women Artists and the Politics of Scale, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
The Flames: The Age of Ceramics, Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, Paris, France
The Incorrect Museum: Vignettes from the di Rosa Collection, di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art,
Napa, CA
When Nobody’s Watching, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Winterfest: An Exhibition of Arts and Crafts, Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, CO
2020 Making Knowing: Craft in Art, 1950-2019, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Cool Clay: Recent Acquisitions of Contemporary Ceramics, Crocker Museum Sacramento, CA
100 Iconic Works from the Permanent Collection, The Baker Museum of Art, Naples, FL
Global Conversations: Art in Dialogue, Toldeo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH
About Face: Contemporary Ceramic Sculpture, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery,
AL (catalogue);
also traveled to Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, TX; and Figge Art Museum,
Davenport, IA
2019 Chris Hood and Viola Frey, Et al./Et al. etc., San Francisco, CA (catalogue)
Clayblazers: Women Artists of the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s, Arizona Art Museum, Tempe, AZ
Human Condition, KANEKO, Omaha, NE
2018 40 by 40: The 40th Anniversary Show, University Art Gallery, Sonoma State University, Rohnert
Park, CA
Be Not Still: Living in Uncertain Times (Part 1), di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, Napa, CA
Be Not Still: Living in Uncertain Times (Part 2), di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, Napa, CA
First Glimpse: Introduction to the Buck Collection, University Art Gallery and Contemporary Arts
Center Gallery, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA (catalogue)
Living with Clay: California Ceramics Collections, Nicholas & Lee Begovich Gallery, California State
University, Fullerton, Fullerton, CA (catalogue)
2016 Function, Form, and Fantasy: Ceramics from the Dr. Robert and Deanna Harris Burger Collection,
Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, MI (catalogue)
2012 Shifting Paradigms in Contemporary Ceramics: The Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio Collection,
Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Houston, TX (catalogue)
2009 Dirt on Delight: Impulses That Form Clay, Institute Contemporary Art, University Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia, PA; also traveled to Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
2005 Connoisseurs of Clay: Collecting Contemporary Ceramics, Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg
1987 California Figurative Sculpture, Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs, CA (catalogue)
1985 In the Eye of the Beholder: A Portrait of Our Time, College Art Gallery, SUNY/The College at New
Paltz, NY
INTERVIEWS AND PANELS
1993 Workshop presenter, National College of Art, Craft, and Design, Stockholm, Sweden
1990 La Céramique contemporaine aux États-Unis presenter, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris,
France
1989 Figurative Art in Public Spaces: An Artists’ Panel Discussion panelist, Whitney Museum of
American Art, NY, NY
1982 California Sculptural Tradition: Figurative Sculpture panelist,12th International Sculpture
The conference, Oakland, CA
1980 National Council for the Ceramic Arts conference panelist, Ann Arbor, MI
1979 The Ceramics Symposium 1979 panelist, Institute for Ceramic History, Los Angeles, CA
TEACHING
1964-99 California College of Arts and Crafts; Professor Emerita in Ceramics
1967 Visiting Professor in Advanced Ceramics (summer session), Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
AWARDS AND GRANTS
1986 Award of Honor for Sculpture, Arts Commission of San Francisco, CA
Grant recipient, Artist Fellowship Grant, National Endowment for the Arts
1978 Grant recipient, Craftsmen’s Fellowship Grant, National Endowment for the Arts
1971 Award winner, Ceramic Statement 1971, Association of San Francisco Potters, M.H. de Young
Memorial Museum, San Francisco, CA
1970 Purchase award, San Francisco Art Festival, San Francisco, CA
1968 Award winner, Media ’68, Walnut Creek Civic Arts Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA
1967 Award winner, James D. Phelan Award, San Francisco, CA
1964 Purchase award, San Francisco Art Festival, San Francisco, CA
1963 Award winner, Stone Forms: Association of San Francisco Potters 12th Exhibition, M.H. de Young
Memorial Museum, San Francisco, CA
1961 Award winner, California Crafts II, Creative Arts League of Sacramento, CA
1954 Award winner, The Thirteenth Annual Pacific Coast Ceramic Exhibition, Rotunda Gallery, San
Francisco, CA
RESIDENCIES
1993 European Ceramic Workcentre, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
1992 Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, WA
1991 Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park, Koka City, Japan
1988 Manufacture de Sèvres, Sèvres, France
1986 Manufacture de Sèvres, Sèvres, France
1978 CA 5 Ceramic Studio, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
1970 San Joaquin Delta College (formerly Stockton Delta College), Stockton, CA
PUBLIC/INSTITUTION COLLECTIONS
Akron Art Museum, Akron, OH
American Museum of Ceramic Art, Pomona, CA
Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, AZ
Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AR
Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, TX
Avampato Discovery Museum, Charleston, WV
Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH
Cameron Art Museum, Wilmington, NC
Canton Museum of Art, Canton, OH
Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA
Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH
Cité de la Céramique, Sèvres, France
Clay Art Center, Port Chester, NY
Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences, Charleston, WV
Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR
Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, NH
de Saisset Museum, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA
Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI
di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, Napa, CA
Everson Art Museum, Syracuse, NY
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, MI
Foosaner Art Museum, Melbourne, FL
Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, Los Angeles, CA
Gardiner Museum, Toronto, Canada
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, HI
Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, Miami, FL
Mark Arts, Wichita, KS
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Mills College Art Museum, Oakland, CA
Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN
Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL
Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, AL
Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY
Museum of Arts and Sciences, Macon, GA
Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Museum of Design, Zürich, Switzerland
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, MA
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO
Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, KS
Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, Utah State University, East Logan, UT
Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, FL
Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, CA
Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA
Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, CA
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ
Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI
Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery, Scripps College, Claremont, CA
Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission, Sacramento, CA
San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA
Sheldon Museum of Art, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE
Shigaraki Ceramic Sculpture Park, Shiga, Japan
Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC
Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY
St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO
Stedelijk Museum ’s-Hertogenbosch, ’s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
The Belger Arts Center, Kansas City, MO
The Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC
Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH
University Art Collections, University of Denver, Denver, CO
University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, IA
Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT
Victoria & Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom
Western Gallery & Public Art Collection, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT
Zuckerman Art Museum, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA
Please download supplementary materials for a selected bibliography.
