Man and World
Artist: Viola Frey (American, 1933-2004)
Date: 2003
Medium: Ceramic
Classification: Ceramics
Credit Line: Gift of The Georgia Welles Apollo Society
Object number: 2019.20
Label Text:Created in 2003, the last year of the artist’s life, Man and World is a striking example of Viola Frey’s iconic, monumental ceramic sculptures. She became a significant artistic voice in a growing West Coast ceramics movement that first emerged in the mid-1950s.
The scale of Frey’s figures took on massive proportions in the early 1980s, confronting viewers with questions about the rise and impact of corporate culture and gender biases. She often paired her figures with globes to provoke conversations about dominance and power, commenting on Western society by looking at the lives of the everyday man and woman. The businessman in Man and World who sits with his back to the world might be seen in a moment of triumph, defiance, or perhaps vulnerability.
Frey built her figures from the ground up, with a handful of clay at a time, using scaffolding as her massive works surpassed her own five-foot height. Once she built and dried the figure and world, she cut the clay into sections with a saw for glazing and firing, then bolted it back together to create the final sculpture.
The scale of Frey’s figures took on massive proportions in the early 1980s, confronting viewers with questions about the rise and impact of corporate culture and gender biases. She often paired her figures with globes to provoke conversations about dominance and power, commenting on Western society by looking at the lives of the everyday man and woman. The businessman in Man and World who sits with his back to the world might be seen in a moment of triumph, defiance, or perhaps vulnerability.
Frey built her figures from the ground up, with a handful of clay at a time, using scaffolding as her massive works surpassed her own five-foot height. Once she built and dried the figure and world, she cut the clay into sections with a saw for glazing and firing, then bolted it back together to create the final sculpture.
On view