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Contemporary Art

Loosely defined as the art of today or the art of our lifetime, the term “contemporary art” is usually used more specifically to describe artworks created since the 1980s or 1990s. For collection purposes, the Frye Art Museum currently delineates the scope as 1990 to the present. In the more general sense, the Frye has collected and exhibited contemporary—or contemporaneous—art since its opening in 1952. This commitment to the art and culture of the present was catalyzed by Museum founders Charles and Emma Frye, who amassed a collection of paintings made within their own lifetimes and often purchased works directly from living artists. Over the last seven decades, directors of the Museum have each brought their own interests and interpretations to bear on the Frye’s engagement with contemporary art and thereby shaped a distinctive collection. Prior to the tenure of Elsa “Midge” Bowman (Director, 2004–09), and often counter to dominant trends in art of the time, the Frye’s leadership focused exclusively on exhibiting and collecting representational art, citing Charles and Emma Frye’s preferences for figurative and landscape painting. Under Bowman’s direction, the exhibitions program at the Frye expanded into areas like video art and performance that questioned and upended the definition of representational art. In 2008, the Museum’s mission was revised to embrace art in its myriad forms. The Frye’s contemporary art collection has grown significantly since that time, reflecting the diversity of the institution’s engagement with local, national, and international artists working today.

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Title Artist Medium Date
Trap   Linklater, Duane   Powder-coated trap, mirror, gypsum board, plywood, steel wall studs  2016 
From Sea to Dawn   Haerizadeh, Ramin, Rokni Haerizadeh, Hesam Rahmanian   Digital video (color, silent); 6:21 min.  2016 
Sketch for The Pig Went Down to the Harbor and Wept #3   Woodring, Jim   Pencil and acrylic ink on paper  2016 
The Pig Went Down to the Harbor and Wept #6   Woodring, Jim   Acrylic ink on paper  2016 
This Is Who We Are   Wokoma, Inye   Two-channel digital video (color, sound): 16:13 min.   2016 
Our Blood Is In These Stones: Yirim Seck   Wokoma, Inye   Digital print  2016 
Our Blood Is In These Stones: Versa Ruff   Wokoma, Inye   Digital print  2016 
Our Blood Is In These Stones: Daye Wokoma   Wokoma, Inye   Digital print  2016 
Our Blood Is In These Stones: Ama-Ibi Wokoma   Wokoma, Inye   Digital print  2016 
Dawn in Luxor   Joseph, Kahlil   16mm film transferred to two-channel digital video (color, sound); 4:1 min.  2016 
Alice™ (you don’t have to think about it)   Joseph, Kahlil   Digital video (color, sound); 18:41 min.  2016 
Emollients: Ingram's, Marinello's, Purola, Velvatone   Bruch, Cris   Blown glass  2016 


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