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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.


  FILTER RESULTS
by Artist
Snowflake Drawing #5 (Double Lotus Pod)

Jeffry Mitchell
Graphite, ink, carbon transfer, and watercolor on paper
2018

Birmingham (right)

Toyin Ojih Odutola
Four-color lithograph with gold leaf
2014

Birmingham (center)

Toyin Ojih Odutola
Four-color lithograph with gold leaf
2014

Birmingham (left)

Toyin Ojih Odutola
Four-color lithograph with gold leaf
2014

Chemically Tanned

Alison Bremner
Latex paint on deer hide with horsehair
2017

Bamboo No.26

Nancy Mee
Letterpress and print
1994

Bamboo No.25

Carolyn Law
Letterpress and lithograph
1994

Bamboo No.24

Gayle Bard
Letterpress and lithograph
1994

Bamboo No.23

George Tsutakawa
Letterpress and Sumi ink
1994

Bamboo No.22

Karen Guzak
Letterpress and print
1994

Bamboo No.21

Michael Spafford
Letterpress and woodcut
1994

Bamboo No.20

Fay Jones
Letterpress and lithograph
1994

Bamboo No.19

Rebecca Struck
Letterpress and print
1994

Bamboo No.18

Barbara Noah
Letterpress and print
1994

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

This Is Who We Are

Inye Wokoma
Two-channel digital video (color, sound): 16:13 min.
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