Viola Frey Figurative Sculptures
American
She born in 1933, Viola Frey grew up on her family's vineyard in Lodi, California.[2]
She received a BFA in 1956 from California College of Arts and Crafts (now California College of the Arts), where she studied painting with Richard Diebenkorn and ceramics with Vernon "Corky" Coykendall and Charles Fiske.[3] Her fellow students included Robert Arneson, Manuel Neri and Nathan Oliveira.[4] After receiving her bachelor's degree, she attended graduate school at Tulane University and studied with Mark Rothko and George Rickey. She left Tulane in 1957 without receiving her master's degree[5] and moved to New York to work with ceramicist Katherine Choy at the Clay Art Center in Port Chester, New York.[6]
The Clay Art Center was one of the earliest venues on the East Coast geared toward artists exploring ceramics as a fine art medium without the functional constraints of craft.[3]
Career
Frey returned to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1960 where she became an internationally respected artist and a leading figure in contemporary ceramics. She was well known for her monumental, brightly colored ceramic sculptures, which explored issues of gender, cultural iconography and art history. Along with Robert Arneson and Peter Voulkos, Frey reshaped and defined the use of ceramics as a fine art medium through her robust sculptures.
"Frey was one of a number of California artists working in clay in the 1950s and 60s who turned away from that medium's conventions to produce works with robust sculptural qualities associated with Abstract Expressionist painting, Pop art and what would come to be known as California Funk."[7]
"Viola has had a profound impact on the visual arts. She was able to take the culture surrounding her and reform those elements into a totally original form of sculpture that defined one of the great contributions to modern art," commented Michael S. Roth, former President of the California College of the Arts.[8]to
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Creator: Viola Frey
Monumental Figural Family Group Sculpture by Viola Frey
By Viola Frey
Located in Dallas, TX
Multidisciplinary Californian artist Viola Frey (1933-2004) excelled as a painter, a potter, a sculptor and an educator. As a ceramicist she was a pioneer in the California Funk Move...
Category
1990s Viola Frey Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Ceramic
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Viola Frey figurative sculptures for sale on 1stDibs.
Viola Frey figurative sculptures are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of ceramic and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Viola Frey figurative sculptures, although gray editions of this piece are particularly popular. If you’re looking for additional options, many customers also consider figurative sculptures by Pietro Bazzanti, Émile Guillemin, and Antonio Frilli. Prices for Viola Frey figurative sculptures can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $95,000 and can go as high as $95,000, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $95,000.