Bernard Frize

Audiences saw the impressive stylistic and technical diversity of Bernard Frize's work in his 2003 exhibition at Ikon Gallery. This catalogue was produced to accompany the exhibition and as such includes photographs of the whole painted series (1998 – 2003) that featured in the show, reproductions of his sculptural pieces and photographs, a full list of works, a biography and an essay. Written by author and cultural journalist Barry Schwabsky, the latter focuses on Frize’s techniques, themes and influences, with a particular focus on the process of ‘seeing’ and Frize’s way of disrupting this. The inclusion of photography in the exhibition is significant in light of this, providing a clue to the sources of inspiration for the artist’s work as a whole. His abstraction belies a fascination with visual experience in all aspects of life and the photographic images exhibited in the Ikon show are characterised by subtle and accidental colour, repetition of form, a compelling wit and humour derived from all-too-human idiosyncrasy.

A further issue raised by the exhibition and this time explored in the catalogue’s foreword by Ikon Director Jonathan Watkins, is the collaborative aspect of Frize’s paintings. Significantly, all the painted works featured in the 2003 exhibition were produced in partnership, involving a number of other individuals applying colour together on a canvas. The results are remarkably strong aesthetically, with implications at once challenging conventional notions of artistic authorship and conveying a certain optimism through inclusiveness; ideas that are explored in some depth throughout this publication.