Man and World

Artist Viola Frey (American, 1933-2004)

Date2003

MediumCeramic

ClassificationCeramics

Credit LineGift of The Georgia Welles Apollo Society

Object number

2019.20

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 02A, Wolfe

Label TextCreated in 2003, during 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 white businessman 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 globe, she cut the clay into sections with a saw for glazing and firing, then bolted it back together to create the final sculpture.