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.
by Artist
by Artist
by Year
by Object Type
Egungun
Cauleen Smith
Archival pigment print
2015
Hedonic Reversal #1
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Archival pigment print
2015
Hedonic Reversal #2
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Archival pigment print
2015
Hedonic Reversal #3
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Archival pigment print
2015
Hedonic Reversal #4
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Archival pigment print
2015
Hedonic Reversal #5
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Archival pigment print
2015
Hedonic Reversal #6
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Archival pigment print
2015
Hedonic Reversal #7
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Archival pigment print
2015
Hedonic Reversal #8
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Archival pigment print
2015
Hedonic Reversal #9
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Archival pigment print
2015
Hedonic Reversal #10
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Archival pigment print
2015
Hedonic Reversal #11
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Archival pigment print
2015
Hedonic Reversal #12
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Archival pigment print
2015
Hedonic Reversal #13
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Archival pigment print
2015
Hedonic Reversal #14
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Archival pigment print
2015
Hedonic Reversal #15
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Archival pigment print
2015
Hedonic Reversal #16
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Archival pigment print
2015
Hedonic Reversal #17
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Archival pigment print
2015
El Sisifo (The Sisyphus)
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Three-channel digital video (color, sound); 12 min.
2015
Prole
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Digital video (color, sound); 8:48 min.
2015
Frank in the 3rd Dimension
Jim Woodring
3-D digital video (color, silent); 5:15 min.
2015
Occasional Poems
Maged Zaher
Text installation
2015
Du jaroj da seksa perforto kontrau virinaj Egiptaj manifestaciantoj, kaj jam ni portas trancilojn en la stratoj...
Ellen Lesperance
Gouache and graphite on tea-stained paper
2014
Birmingham (left)
Toyin Ojih Odutola
Four-color lithograph with gold leaf
2014
Birmingham (center)
Toyin Ojih Odutola
Four-color lithograph with gold leaf
2014
Birmingham (right)
Toyin Ojih Odutola
Four-color lithograph with gold leaf
2014
Withered Lotus Cast in Iron
Pan Gongkai
Ink on paper
2014
Get up!
Anne Focke
Letterpress
2013
Lot 248 (still)
Amie Siegel
Cibachrome print
2013
Untitled (XIV)
Rafael Soldi
Archival pigment print
2013
Landscape #7
Matt Browning
Tree sap on handmade wood panel
2012
Untitled
Mark Calderon
Book spine repair tape
2012
Landscape with Chad
Anne Fenton
Color photograph
2012
![Image of Untitled [Details of serpent from Die Sünde (Sin) by Franz von Stuck]](/media/Previews/2013.003.01_Mafford_Low-Res.png)
Untitled [Details of serpent from Die Sünde (Sin) by Franz von Stuck]
Liu Ding
Oil on canvas
2012
![Image of Untitled [Frame from Die Sünde (Sin) by Franz von Stuck]](/media/Previews/2013.003.02_Mafford_Low-Res.png)
Untitled [Frame from Die Sünde (Sin) by Franz von Stuck]
Liu Ding
Oil on canvas
2012
![Image of Untitled [Details of serpent from Die Sünde (Sin) by Franz von Stuck]](/media/Previews/2013.003.03_ Mafford_Low-Res.png)
Untitled [Details of serpent from Die Sünde (Sin) by Franz von Stuck]
Liu Ding
Oil on canvas
2012
Table with Munich Secession–themed merchandise selected by the artist from the Frye Store, from the series Liu Ding's Store
Liu Ding
Wood, aluminum, paint, Frye Store merchandise
2012
Table with children's merchandise selected by the artist from the Frye Store, from the series Liu Ding's Store
Liu Ding
Wood, aluminum, paint, Frye Store merchandise
2012
Table with popular merchandise selected by the artist from the Frye Store, from the series Liu Ding's Store
Liu Ding
Wood, aluminum, paint, Frye Store merchandise
2012
Not Waving, but Drowning
Jeffry Mitchell
Glazed earthenware on artist-made wood pedestal
2012
Ode to Octavia: Neo-Ancient Taliswoman
The Black Constellation
Incantation, repurposed bronze, brass, silver, stainless steel, rosewood, beechnut, abalone shell, ibex and dik-dik horn, precious and semiprecious stones, 1996 GMC truck key
2012
Ode to Octavia: Cranium Adornment #5
The Black Constellation
Composited bone, enamel, found goggles
2012
Ode to Octavia Part 12: (Sparkles)...Recollections of the Wraith
The Black Constellation
Digital video (color, sound); 4:49 min.
2012
Cuckoo Crow: Transformation
Degenerate Art Ensemble
Digital video (color, sound); 7:14 min.
2011
Untitled
Isaac Layman
Photographic construction, inkjet on paper
2011
Untitled
Isaac Layman
Photographic construction, inkjet on paper
2011
Tradition as Adaptive Strategy
Matt Browning
Tree sap and carved wood
2010
The Dorothy K: Large Claw
Implied Violence
Cardboard, wood, wire, rope, LED lights
2010
The Dorothy K: Bow Dress
Implied Violence
Silk, satin, lace, steel ring, and cable
2010