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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
Bamboo No.5   Smith, Scott   Letterpress and woodcut  1993 
Bamboo No.4   Crispwick, Mrs.   Letterpress and lithograph  1993 
Bamboo No.3   McMahon, Gene Gentry   Letterpress and woodcut  1993 
Bamboo No.2   Jet, Jimmy   Letterpress and lithograph  1993 
Bamboo No.1   Millett, Peter   Letterpress and woodcut  1993 
Get up!   Focke, Anne   Letterpress  2013 
Little Meat Thief   Ryden, Mark   Giclée print  2005 
Study for Bridal Registry: Christmas Decorations   Raftery, Andrew   Lithograph and chine collé  1997 
Study for Bridal Registry: June Wedding   Raftery, Andrew   Lithograph and chine collé  1997 
Seer   Weisberg, Ruth   Monotype  1994 
Between Life and Life   Barnet, Will   Lithograph  1998 
Horse II   Andoe, Joe   Lithograph  1994 
Horse I   Andoe, Joe   Lithograph  1994 
Great Notions   Bratt, Byron   Mezzotint and acrylic wash  1990 
Stereoscopic Viewer   Bratt, Byron   Mezzotint and acrylic wash  1995 


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