Leslie Fry

Leslie Fry, Untitled (Cuffed 5), bronze fantastical sculptures of female hands

2023

A 2023 recipient of the Vermont Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, Leslie Fry is represented in this show with fantastical sculptures of female hands, titled the “Cuffed” series. Tensely poised and mannered gestures, inspired by Parmigianino and Caravaggio, cascade into blooms and barnacles, creating a mesmerizing visual dissonance. This elision of romance and rigidity both draws attention to the limitations of the female form and liberates it from the constraints of reality. Leslie Fry’s works have been exhibited internationally at such venues as Kunsthaus in Hamburg, Zwitscher Machine Gallery in Berlin, Hangaram Art Museum in Seoul, Windspiel Galerie in Vienna, Couvent des Cordeliers in Paris, Artists Space and Wave Hill in New York, deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum near Boston, and Centre des Arts Visuels in Montreal. Her public sculptures have been commissioned in New York, South Korea, Montreal, Florida, Wisconsin, and Vermont; public collections include Tufts University, Songchu International Sculpture Park, Freehand New York, Kohler Arts Center, Tampa Museum of Art, Fleming Museum of Art, Musée d’art de Joliette, and St. Petersburg, Florida’s Museum of Fine Arts. Fry’s M.F.A. is from Bard College, and her B.A. is from the University of Vermont, with a Foundation year at the Central School of Art in London. She currently lives and works in Winooski, VT. Artist Statement: #1 My hands reach, touch, and shape. Hands let go and receive; they try to hold things and to hold things together. Some of my images of hands are derived from Mannerist paintings by Parmigianino and Caravaggio, and are ink-washed onto vintage tablecloths...

Artist Statement: #1 My hands reach, touch, and shape. Hands let go and receive; they try to hold things and to hold things together. Some of my images of hands are derived from M...

Reaching, ca. 1980. Cast bronze. Signed in lower region on wrist. A rare example from the artist's later period influenced by figurative abstraction with expressionist tendencies. James Edward Lewis (August 4, 1923 – August 9, 1997) was an African-American artist, art collector, professor, and curator in the city of Baltimore. He is best known for his role as the leading force for the creation of the James E. Lewis Museum of Art, an institution of the HBCU Morgan State University. His work as the chairman of the Morgan Art Department from 1950 to 1986 allowed for the museum to amass a large collection of more than 3,000 works, predominantly of African and African diasporan art.[1] In addition, he is also well known for his role as an interdisciplinary artist, primarily focused on sculpture, though also having notable examples of lithography and illustration. His artistic style throughout the years has developed from an earlier focus on African-American history and historical figures, for which he is most notable as an artist, to a more contemporary style of African-inspired abstract expressionism. Early and personal life James E. Lewis was born in rural Phenix, Virginia on August 4, 1923 to James T. Lewis and Pearline (Pearlean) Harvey.[5] Lewis' parents were both sharecroppers. Shortly after his birth, his father moved to Baltimore for increased job opportunity; James E. was subsequently raised by his mother until the family was reunited in 1925. They lived for a short time with distant relatives until moving to a four-bedroom house on 1024 North Durham Street in East Baltimore, a predominantly African-American lower-class neighborhood close to Johns Hopkins Hospital. Lewis' primary school, PS 101, was the only public school in East Baltimore that served black children. Lewis grew up in a church-going family, his parents both active members of the Faith Baptist Church, devoting the entirety of their Sundays to church activities. His parents worked a variety of different jobs throughout his youth:[6] his father working as a stevedore for a shipping company, a mechanic, a custodian, a mailroom handler,[6] and an elevator operator.] His mother worked as both a clerk at a drugstore[7] and a laundress for a private family.[4] Lewis' primary exposure to the arts came from Dr. Leon Winslow, a faculty member at PS 101 who Lewis saw as "providing encouragement and art materials to those who wanted and needed it." In fifth grade, Lewis transferred to PS 102. Here, he was able to receive specialized Art Education in Ms. William's class under the guidance of Winslow. He was considered a standout pupil at PS 102 as a result of his introduction to the connection between the arts and the other studies. His time spent in Ms. Pauline Wharton's class allowed for him to experiment with singing, to which he was considered a talented singer. His involvement in this class challenged his earlier belief that singing was not a masculine artistic pursuit. He was able to study both European classics and negro spirituals, which was one of his earliest introductions to arts specific to American black culture. Under Ms. Wharton's direction, he was also involved in many different musical performances,[6] including some works of the Works Progress Administration's Federal Theatre Project.[8] Lewis attended Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, where his love of the arts was heightened through his industrial art class with Lee Davis...

Belle Main (Les mains libre) is a bronze sculpture realized by Man Ray in 1971. Signed with initials and numbered on the base. Cast by Fratelli Barberis in Turin for Luciano Anselm...