WORK OF THE WEEK: Peter Frie, Big Yamutree, 2016

Peter Frie
Big Yamutree
2016
Bronze and stainless steel
340 x 245 x 152cm
11ft 2 x 8ft x 4ft 12 in.
Unique

Peter Frie (b.1947) lives and works in Båstad, Sweden and Phuket, Thailand. In 2009, Frie was given the opportunity to practice work in a forgery just outside Bangkok, Thailand. Thus began his practice in sculpting bronze trees. Peter Frie’s sculpture have a dark patina that gives the impression of silhouetted trees on an evening landscape. His sculptures range in size from tiny, detailed pieces to large works such as this. His bronze trees are characterised by painterly surfaces and perfectly balanced branches. As Timo Valjakka remarked in Peter’s book, Under the Red Sky (2019), these works are 'recognisably a painter’s sculptures, given they are shaped as much by light and shade as by the hand… they create their own surrounding world and scale. When we look at them, we can see the air vibrating around them'.

Big Yamutree is situated in the park at Roche Court, a focal figure amongst the Oaks and Sycamores, it commands the attention of the viewer yet settles into the woods with ease. This piece is entirely unique, with its stainless steel plinth and background, it occupies the space between his paintings and sculpture. In this sculpture, it is as if we are seeing the act of Frie's painted trees emerging from their canvas, stepping into the three-dimensional world that his sculptures occupy.

Peter Frie last exhibited at the New Art Centre in 2023, and his current exhibition: Peter Frie: Sometimes the Sky is Blue opened last week at Galerie Forsblom in Helsinki, Finland. The New Art Centre has worked with Peter Frie for over 40 years, as such, we were delighted to hear from him regarding his recent acknowledgement from Alexander Stubb, the President of Finland. Peter Frie and his wife, Britt, travelled to Finland for a party at the beginning of December. The President, who owns several paintings and sculptures of Frie's, commended his work, and both Frie and his wife were received as guests of honour. Examples of his work are in a number of major public collections including the Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Kiasma Museum of Modern Art, Helsinki; and the Malmö Museum, Malmö, as well as private collections across Europe.