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Viola Frey

American

BiographyViola Frey was one of the pioneers of ceramic sculpture, helping to move ceramics away from traditional functional purpose and into the realm of fine art. She is best known for colorful, large scale ceramic figures of men and women, but also produced paintings, drawings, and bronze sculpture.

Frey was born in Lodi, California and attended the California College of Arts & Crafts where she worked with Richard Diebenkorn. She received her MFA from Tulane University in New Orleans. She lived and worked in Oakland, CA, and taught at the California College of Art from 1971 until her retirement in 1999.

In 1984 she had a solo exhibition at The Whitney Museum of American Art. In 2009 Bigger, Better, More: The Art of Viola Frey, organized by the Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI (catalogue) traveled to Gardiner Museum, Toronto; the Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY; and the Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR.

Person TypeIndividual