2 new exhibits open at DiRosa in Napa

The Di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art will showcase the work of Viola Frey, as well as its own collection of Northern California art, in two exhibitions planned in 2019.

On view Feb. 23 through Dec. 29, “Viola Frey: Center Stage” marks the artist’s first major institutional survey on the West Coast since 1981 and includes more than 100 works of art.

On view March 9 through Dec. 29, will be “Building a Different Model: Selections from the Di Rosa Collection.” The exhibit is the first in a series of exhibitions exploring Di Rosa’s holdings of Northern California art, organized by guest curators from beyond the Bay Area.

Frey, who died in 2004, is best known for her larger-than-life figurative ceramic sculptures. “Viola Frey: Center Stage” traces her career through a chronological progression spanning five decades. A large portion of the featured work - which includes not just ceramics, but also painting, drawing, photography, and bronze - has never been shown publicly.

The large-scale presentation will occupy Di Rosa’s 8,500-square-foot Gallery 2, marking the first time the gallery has been devoted to the work of a single artist. The exhibition draws from a mix of Di Rosa’s holdings, loans from Artists’ Legacy Foundation and private collections.

“Frey’s wide-ranging interests - from identity to class, culture, consumerism, and environmental issues, with an undeniable undercurrent of feminist statement - parallel many of the pressing issues of our day,” said curator Amy Owen in a press release announcing the show. “This presentation is a long-overdue look at an artist working far ahead of her time.”

This is the first of three major solo exhibitions at Di Rosa, rolling out over 2019 and 2020, focusing on singular artistic voices in Northern California art history.

Exhibitions in 2020 will feature the work of Jean Conner and Deborah Remington. The series shines a light on the artists’ years living and working in the Bay Area, highlighting their shared impulse to draw inspiration from the personal, cultural and environmental realms, and how critical aspects of the region enabled their work to develop and flourish.

“One of the great strengths of postwar Northern California painting and sculpture is the collective reimagining of what art and the world can be,” said Di Rosa Executive Director Robert Sain in the statement on the exhibit. “The Di Rosa collection offers a vision apart from most art histories, one led by individual sensibilities focused on building languages of communication and community.”

Curated by Dan Nadel, there are some 70 works by 40 artists in “Building a Different Model.”

A public reception for both exhibitions takes place from 4 to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 9.

For details about upcoming public programs related to the exhibitions, visit

dirosaart.org.

Di Rosa is located at 5200 Sonoma Highway, Napa. The galleries are open Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.