Philip Frey

Philip Frey Biography

Philip Frey (b. 1967) is best known for his bold paintings of Maine’s coastline, landscape, and working waterfronts. His primary focus is color and light, and the inherent forms found in nature, interiors, and figures. He paints from direct perception, preferring the dynamic quality, rich- ness, and challenges of working from life.

In 2016, the University of Maine Museum of Art mounted a solo exhibition of Frey’s work. His work has been highlighted in several books, including Art of Acadia (2016) and Paintings of Portland (2018), both by brothers Carl Little and David Little, and in numerous publications, including: Art New England, Gettysburg Review, Maine Policy Review, and Maine Sunday Telegram.

Frey’s work is held in private and corporate collections both nationally and internationally, including those of writer Harlan Coben, Dick Wolf Films, Representative Chellie Pingree, Donald Sussman, and the University of Maine Museum of Art.

Frey studied at Columbus College of Art and Design and graduated with a B.F.A. in Painting from Syracuse University in 1990. He has received several grants and awards, including the Heliker-LaHotan Foundation Residency in 2012.

This excerpt is from Philip Frey: Here and Now (Marshall Wilkes 2018), a recent mongraph on Frey’s career by art historians and critics Carl Little and Daniel Kany:

“As a painter, Philip Frey’s goal is often a project of soft persuasion. We recognize his scenes easily enough. But as we shift our focus from the recognizable subject to the insistent forms, luscious brushwork, and compositional design, the painting slips out of representational focus and back to abstraction, the true place of Frey’s poetry.” — Daniel Kany, Philip Frey: Here and Now

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