Viola Frey (1933 - 2004)

The Gardiner Museum will present BIGGER, BETTER, MORE: THE ART OF VIOLA FREY until January 10, 2010, the first look at Frey’s career and legacy since her death in 2004.

She established her reputation in the late 1960s with a series of ceramic sculptures featuring quirky assemblages of images inspired by objects found in local flea markets. In the late 1970s, she began to move away from assemblage sculptures and concentrated on creating large-scale figures. These larger than life sculptures typically depict contemporary men and women in stiff, awkward poses that directly engage and involve viewers. The surfaces are usually painted in bold primary colours that further enhance their visual appeal and emotional impact.

Frey was a revolutionary who broke through the theoretical boundaries between art and craft. Although her monumental figures attracted national and international acclaim Frey also created a strong body of paintings and drawings and experimented with photography, bronze casting and glass sculpting.

According to Gardiner Museum Executive Director Alexandra Montgomery, “BIGGER, BETTER, MORE: THE ART OF VIOLA FREY offers a rare opportunity to see some of Viola Frey’s most extraordinary work. Frey has a wide appeal as her work provides a provocative commentary on life in 20th century American and engages those with an interest in modern art and/or figurative sculpture as well as ceramics.”

The Gardiner Museum is located at :111 Queen’s Park, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 2C7

Admission $10 for the public.