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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.


Dawn in Luxor

Kahlil Joseph
16mm film transferred to two-channel digital video (color, sound); 4:1 min.
2016

Frank in the 3rd Dimension

Jim Woodring
3-D digital video (color, silent); 5:15 min.
2015

Ecdysis

Ishmael Butler
Audio, 24:51 min.
2015

Still Lives: Exposure

Susie J. Lee
Digital video (color, silent); 30 min.
2010

Alice™ (you don’t have to think about it)

Kahlil Joseph
Digital video (color, sound); 18:41 min.
2016

Avatar: Fanon & Decca

C. Davida Ingram
Digital video (color, sound); 19:23 min.
2015

Tsunami Capable Tide Stations > West Coast

DK Pan
Digital video (color, sound); 38:58 min.
2015

Cuckoo Crow: Transformation

Degenerate Art Ensemble
Digital video (color, sound); 7:14 min.
2011

Prole

Rodrigo Valenzuela
Digital video (color, sound); 8:48 min.
2015

Eclipse Tower 1

Web Crowell and Stacey Levine
Digital video of stop-motion animation (color, sound); 3:43 min.
2015