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
Bamboo No.17
Lockwood Dennis
Letterpress and woodcut
1994
Bamboo No.16
Julie Paschkis
Letterpress and linocut
1994
Bamboo No.15
George Chacona
Letterpress and print
1994
Bamboo No.14
Robert Kraftt
Letterpress and print
1994
Bamboo No.13
Jose Rodriguez Guerra
Letterpress and lithograph
1994
Bamboo No.12
C.T. Chew
Letterpress and print
1994
Bamboo No.11
Mauricio Robalino
Letterpress and print
1994
Bamboo No.10
Virginia Paquette
Letterpress and lithograph
1994
Bamboo No.9
Mare Blocker
Letterpress and linocut
1994
Bamboo No.8
Jeffrey Bishop
Letterpress and lithograph
1993
Bamboo No.7
Dennis Evans
Letterpress and print
1993
Bamboo No.6
T. Michael Gardiner
Letterpress and lithograph
1993
Bamboo No.5
Scott Smith
Letterpress and woodcut
1993
Bamboo No.4
Mrs. Crispwick
Letterpress and lithograph
1993
Bamboo No.3
Gene Gentry McMahon
Letterpress and woodcut
1993
Bamboo No.2
Jimmy Jet
Letterpress and lithograph
1993
Bamboo No.1
Peter Millett
Letterpress and woodcut
1993
Waves Floater
Romero Britto
Acrylic paint and oil pen on canvas
2017
Sketch for The Pig Went Down to the Harbor and Wept #3
Jim Woodring
Pencil and acrylic ink on paper
2016
The Pig Went Down to the Harbor and Wept #6
Jim Woodring
Acrylic ink on paper
2016
This Is Who We Are
Inye Wokoma
Two-channel digital video (color, sound): 16:13 min.
2016
Our Blood Is In These Stones: Yirim Seck
Inye Wokoma
Digital print
2016
Our Blood Is In These Stones: Versa Ruff
Inye Wokoma
Digital print
2016
Our Blood Is In These Stones: Daye Wokoma
Inye Wokoma
Digital print
2016
Our Blood Is In These Stones: Ama-Ibi Wokoma
Inye Wokoma
Digital print
2016
Dawn in Luxor
Kahlil Joseph
16mm film transferred to two-channel digital video (color, sound); 4:1 min.
2016
Alice™ (you don’t have to think about it)
Kahlil Joseph
Digital video (color, sound); 18:41 min.
2016
Eidolon
Cris Bruch
Aluminum composite
2015
Street Action
Buster Simpson
Archival inkjet print in artist-made frame
1974/2013
Painted Silhouette
Buster Simpson
Archival inkjet print in artist-made frame
1974/2013
Window Installation
Buster Simpson
Archival inkjet print in artist-made frame
1974/2013
Landscape with Chad
Anne Fenton
Color photograph
2012
Prole
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Digital video (color, sound); 8:48 min.
2015
Occasional Poems
Maged Zaher
Text installation
2015
Frank in the 3rd Dimension
Jim Woodring
3-D digital video (color, silent); 5:15 min.
2015
Sonnet Manifesto
Paul Mullin
Text installation
2015
An Agnostic Manifesto
Lesley Hazleton
Text installation
2015
Be the First To Review The B83
Steve Fisk
Four-channel audio installation
2015
Eclipse Tower 1
Web Crowell and Stacey Levine
Digital video of stop-motion animation (color, sound); 3:43 min.
2015
Tsunami Capable Tide Stations > West Coast
DK Pan
Digital video (color, sound); 38:58 min.
2015
Avatar: Fanon & Decca
C. Davida Ingram
Digital video (color, sound); 19:23 min.
2015
Emollients: Ingram's, Marinello's, Purola, Velvatone
Cris Bruch
Blown glass
2016
Ecdysis
Ishmael Butler
Audio, 24:51 min.
2015
Wind Jangle
Leo Berk
Aluminum, fishing line, weights
2015
Specular Reflections
Leo Berk
Glass, black pond dye
2015
El Sisifo (The Sisyphus)
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Three-channel digital video (color, sound); 12 min.
2015
Hedonic Reversal #17
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Archival pigment print
2015
Hedonic Reversal #16
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Archival pigment print
2015
Hedonic Reversal #15
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Archival pigment print
2015
Hedonic Reversal #14
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Archival pigment print
2015