Could the blurry image below be any more Los Angeles? The star of Cheers and other TV programs Ted Danson is taking a photograph on his cell phone of the works by Magdalena and Michael Frimkess at the Hammer Museum exhibition Made in L.A. (June15 – Setpember 9, 2014). The city’s art world is giving new life to its 50’s-era ceramists who have long been undervalued, first Mason and now the Frimkesses have been thrust into the visual arts spotlight, albeit late, they are now in their 70’s and 80’s. This exhibition has done for the Frimkesses what the Getty’s Pacific Standard Time did for Mason. I represented Michael and Magdalena and Mason at different times. So this is, if you will indulge me, is a deeply personal piece.
Ted Danson peruses the Frimkess’ artwork in L.A.
At our young gallery in Los Angeles we organized the first and so far only retrospective for Michael but insisted that Magdalene have equal billing. She is a gifted ceramist and in running the family household and studio, is just this side of being a saint. We published a small catalog that came with a set of bound slides so it could be used in education. (Remember slides?)
The show was the result of collector Fred Marer’s urging that we do something to bring income to their studio. But it also came about due to my deep respect for their art and Michael’s distinct place in the Otis Clay movement. I always wore my dealer’s hat atop the historian’s one.
Magdalena Suarez Frimkess and Michael Frimkess, Venice Cana Vase, 2001, glazed stoneware, 18 x 5 in., 45.72 x 12.7 cm. Courtesy of the artists. Photo by Joshua White.
It was a stunning show that would have done any museum proud. A large number of the works are now in museum collections. Mark Del Vecchio, my partner, did an exceptionally beautiful installation. The show was well received and successful financially. The Frimkesses netted $12,000 (a good sum in those days) and used the money to build a second floor on their home in Venice.
If your read their oral history from the Archives of American Art, you will get a strangely garbled version of our brief relationship. Two items stand out. There was no litigation between us and artists.
What happened was that a large number of works for sale came from Michael’s mother. We suggested that we pay her and she could make gifts to him within legal limits without imperiling his disability payments. (He has MS, a disease that he has fought over the years with remarkable focus and courage.)
He refused, saying receiving money from his mother was an insult to his manhood. We gave in and his disability payments were cancelled. We were, of course, blamed.
Magdalena muses on why I did not continue with working with them; “Then after that, he abandoned us. He didn’t want to help us anymore.” To be honest, without her we would never even have attempted the retrospective. Michael, was, shall we say, complex and difficult.
Magdalena Suarez and Michael Frimkess, My Mother, My Father, My Brother, and Me, 2001, glazed stoneware, 16 ½ x 11 in., 41.91 x 27.94 cm. Courtesy of the artists. Photo by Joshua White.
He even called our new L.A. Director Wayne Kuwada to warn him that Mark and I were “neo-Nazis” and that the gallery checks from us came from secret accounts in different parts of the world. There was a lot more agida. So when our business was complete, yes, we closed the door and ran. I have no doubt we have both mellowed since then.
Our relationship was even more fraught than it seemed. In reading their oral history this paragraph stopped me in my tracks. I read it ten times to be sure I was not misunderstanding:
That’s when Garth Clark showed up. Fred Marer brought him because I told him — I was kind of friends with Fred — “Look where we are now. No money, no show, no–” — we used to have sales, with his father. So he said, “Okay, I’m going to send Garth Clark here because he knows the world, maybe we can help you.” So he came by here. So that was another stage of the life because I fell in love with him, so it was a tragedy here too again. Then I went through a breakdown. So it was very bad.
I had no idea but if that is true, am deeply honored. I adored and respected Magdalena.
Magdalena Suarez Frimkess and Michael Frimkess, Throwing Standing-Up Teapot, 1972, glazed stoneware, 8 x 8 in., 20.32 x 20.32 cm. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Joshua White.
I continued to do my best for them but from a safe distance. Frimkess has always got a deserved and prominent place in my books and exhibitions over the years starting in 1978 and continuing through to 2012. And rightly so, he was a prescient pioneer in Postmodern ceramics. He and Magdalena are both in our collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. A good sign is that Michael and I are now Facebook friends.
Now lets shoot forward to 2014. The artists have been engulfed in a love-fest as result of their inclusion in MADE in L.A. In an article about the couple in the New York Times “Biennial’s Bright Young Things, Ages 77 and 84: Frimkess Ceramics Have Their Moment at Hammer Museum” writer Jori Finkel singles them out as as one of the events star turns:
Prominent artists like Cindy Sherman and Mark Grotjahn have bought the work. Galleries on both coasts are beginning to promote it. Now the expressive, comics-inspired pottery of the husband-and-wife team Michael Frimkess and Magdalena Suarez Frimkess (he’s 77 and she’s 84) has become a sleeper hit of the Hammer Museum’s biennial, thanks to a younger generation of local artists who have been bringing it to light.
In his review of the biennial, Christopher Knight, art critic for The Los Angeles Times, said they “have been making compelling art for a few decades more than most of the others have been alive.”
Writing in Critical Craft Forum, critic Jenni Sorkin, states:
It is so gratifying to see ceramics–and I mean real ceramics, not the sloppy-craft version–included in the Made in LA Biennial, which just opened at the Hammer Museum. Check out what, in my opinion, is the best room in the house: the inter-generational pairing of Magdalena Suarez Frimkess and Michael Frimkess’ work with Caitlin Lonegan’s abstract paintings.
Installation view of the Frimkess’ work.
“I’m a deep fan,” says leading sculptor Ricky Swallow during a recent visit with the couple at the show. “Once you see their work, it’s impossible to walk away from it.” In turn Michael calls Swallow “our savior” for turning the art world onto their ceramics.
Watching this scenario play out is a joy and long-deserved. The Frimkesses currently show their work through the menswear shop, South Willard, where their prices now range from $600 to $14,000. At these prices they are a great buy. But expect to pay much, much more for their earlier work.
The perfect endnote is that The Hammer has announced the winners of the 2014 awards for the “Made in LA,” biennial. Alice Konitz has received the $100,000 Mohn award for artistic excellence; Jennifer Moon has received the $25,000 public recognition award, decided by public vote; and Magdalena Suarez Frimkess and Michael Frimkess have received the $25,000 career achievement award honoring brilliance and resilience.
Garth Clark is the Chief Editor of CFile.
Featured image: Magdalena Suarez Frimkess and Michael Frimkess, Throwing Standing-Up Teapot (detail), 1972, glazed stoneware, 8 x 8 in., 20.32 x 20.32 cm, courtesy of the artist. Photo by Joshua White.
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Michael and Magdalena Suarez Frimkess.
What a satisfying read! I feel happy……..