Grandmother Figure (Blue Face)

Artist: Viola Frey, American, 1933–2004
Date: 1983
Material: Glazed ceramic and steel
Classification: Ceramics, sculpture
Collection: Decorative Arts and Design
Current Location: On View, Gallery 130W
Dimensions: overall: 85 × 16 7/8 × 15 1/8 in. (190.5 × 42.9 × 38.4 cm)
a: head: 17 1/4 × 12 7/8 × 10 3/4 in. (43.8 × 32.7 × 27.3 cm)
b: torso: 24 1/8 × 16 7/8 × 14 3/8 in. (61.3 × 42.9 × 36.5 cm)
c: skirt: 21 7/8 × 15 1/8 × 7 3/4 in. (55.6 × 38.4 × 19.7 cm)
d: legs: 29 5/8 × 12 3/4 × 15 1/8 in. (75.2 × 32.4 × 38.4 cm)
weight (estimate): 160 lb. (72.6 kg)
Credit Line: Gift of Dr. Carl and Mrs. Sari Frieden
Rights: 2023 © Artist's Legacy Foundation, Oakland / ARS, New York
Object Number: 305:2021a-d

NOTES

This monumental figure's expressive gesture is intensified by her exaggerated head and hands and exuberantly painted dress and body awash in color. Ceramic artist Viola Frey sought to amplify matriarchal power in her colossal grandmother sculpture series. An avid collector, Frey drew inspiration for her figures' patterned textiles and jaunty summer hats from flea market treasures. The towering proportions reflect Frey's self-described "creative greed." Given the scope of her ideas and the physical realities of her space, she confessed, "I had no place to go but up."

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