Fred Holle

Fred Holle (born 1931) is a contemporary American artist and Fine Art educator.^[1]

Art

Holle considers drawing to be the foundation of all his work and constantly draws from models, partly for the great pleasure it affords but primarily to maintain perceptual sensitivity and to obtain fresh data to fill a reservoir of images that may be tapped, when needed, for his paintings and prints.^[2] Alfred Frankenstein writes: "He is a remarkable figure draftsman, with something of the fire and freedom of young Rico Lebrun in his sketches...^[3] In the late 1950s, when he was working at the La Jolla Art Center, he created paintings and woodcuts in the style of Abstract Expressionism.^[4] He was among the most respected artists belonging to the core of the contemporary painters working in Southern California.^[5] Around 1964, Holle made a transition to figurative art starting with a series of figural paintings and gesture drawings called "Steppenwolf". After that, the GNOMEGAME Series of paintings and digital prints (created through the freehand use of a Wacom pad and Stylus on the computer) became Holle's lifelong "vehicles" of expression.

Education

Fred Holle studied Fine Art at the following Art Schools and Colleges:^[6]

• Layton School of Art, Milwaukee, WI.
• Arizona State College, Tempe, AZ. 1950-1952

(Served in USN Hospital Corps. 1952-1956)

• San Diego State College, San Diego, CA. 1956-1958, B.A.
• San Diego State College, San Diego, CA. 1958-1960, M.A.

Artworks

Drawings

The drawings listed below were created from 2010 to 2011.^[7] Although they are a small part of Holle's portfolio in the field of drawing, they are characteristic because they present, in terms of themes and approaches, the artist's Romantic^[8] and Expressionist persuasion.^[2]

• Maude, charcoal, 2010
• Sleeping Male, charcoal, 2011
• Judith Sleeping, 2011
• charcoal, 2010
• Oteino, charcoal 2011

Early paintings - Abstract expressionism

The following artworks are characteristic for Holle's early period:

• Anagrams, oil, 1961 ^[6]
• Untitled, from Black Folio,woodcut on antique white-wove paper, 19-7/8 x 11-1/2 inch, 1961.^[4]
• Babylon, oil on canvas, 1959
• Autumn Thesis, oil on canvas, 1960
• Summer '61, oil on canvas, 1961
• Autumn Nightwalk, oil on canvas,1961
• Pete's Pea Pool, oil on canvas,1967

GNOMEGAME-Paintings

Holle's primary “vehicle” of expression over the years has been an ongoing Series of paintings and prints titled “GNOMEGAME”. This is a continuous series of acrylic paintings created utilizing a free-hand airbrush approach. The guiding CONCEPT of the Series relates to the revelation and personification of universal human attitudes ranging from foibles to the darker edges of human nature.

The following paintings are only a sample of a large body of works from this Series created since the early 1960s.^[7]

• Choke, 2010
• Our Happy Homeless
• Consider The Human Hand
• The Rapture
• That Dark Night
• Steppenwolf
• The Audience III
• Chickenhawk
• Magic

Gnomegame-Prints

The GNOMEGAME prints have been created with the FREEHAND use of the computer. Holle found that, with the freehand use of the computer, one could develop works of a traditional nature just as when utilizing traditional mediums and methods. The computer also afforded a great sense of experimental freedom due to its capacity to create multiple versions or return to earlier states of any given work.^[2]

• Il Penseroso, Free Hand Digital Print, 2013
• The Mime, Free Hand Digital Print, 2013
• Serenity, Free Hand Digital Print, 2011
• Waste Management, Free Hand Digital Print, 2009
• Deus ex Machina, Free Hand Digital Print, 2008
• Oracle, Redux, 2011 (awarded by Artslant- #1 contemporary art network)^[9]

Awards

These are some of the awards conferred on Fred Holle for his artwork.^[1]

• Lifelines,’93 5th annual National Drawing Competition, Mendocino, CA: 1993 (award) (Juror: Kenneth Baker, Art Critic, San Francisco Chronicle.)
• 2012 Delta National Small Print Exhibition, Bradbury Gallery, Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, Ark., (Juror's Merit Award), Juror: Roberta Waddell, Curator of Prints Emerita, The New York Public Library, New York, NY

Competitive/Invitational Exhibitions 2005-2015

IN THE ABSTRACT: MID-CENTURY SAN DIEGO PAINTING AND SCULPTURE, Oceanside Museum of Art, Oceanside,CA August15 - November 1, 2015

100 ARTISTS-100 YEARS: The San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild, 1915-2015 at THE OCEANSIDE MUSEUM OF ART, Oceanside, CA, April 13-July 26,2015

PUSH AND PULL, The Los Angeles Printmaking Society's Membership Exhibition, The City of Brea Art Gallery, Brea, CA: 2014

The Arts Visalia North American Print and Drawing Exhibition, Visalia, CA: 2014

LEFT COAST ANNUAL Juried Exhibition, Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, CA: 2014

SPRING AWAKENING, Pacific Art League, Palo Alto, CA: 2014 (First Award)

29th Annual "MADE IN CALIFORNIA" Juried Show", The city of Brea, CA Fine Arts Gallery: 2014

"ABSTRACTIONS", Pacific Art League, Palo Alto, CA: 2014

The Art of NO, juried exhibition, Diablo Valley College Art Callery, Pleasant Hill, CA 2013

FIGURES AND FACES, juried exhibition, Pacific Art League, Palo Alto, CA (Award) 2013

52nd Annual International Exhibition, San Diego Art Institute, San Diego, CA: 2013

MADE IN CALIFORNIA Juried Exhibition, The City of Brea Art Gallery, Brea, CA: 2013

Delta National Small Print Exhibition, Bradbury Gallery, Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, Arkansas: 2012 (Juror’s Merit Award) Juror: Roberta Waddell, Curator Emerita, The New York Public Library, New York, NY

Stones Throw LAPS Exchange Show, Robert Blackburn Print Workshop, New York, NY: 2011

The 2011 LAPS Membership Exhibition, City of Brea Art Gallery, Brea, CA

Art and Labor, Expressions Gallery, Berkeley, CA: 2010

Delta National Small Print Exhibition, Bradbury Gallery, Arkansas State University, Jonesboro,Arkansas: 2009-1010 Juror: David W. Kiehl, Chief Curator, Whitney Museum of Art, New York, NY

2009 Statewide Drawing & Print Competition and Exhibition, Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA: 2009-2010

Bay Area Annual Juried Exhibition, Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, CA: 2009 Juror: JoAnne Northrup, Chief Curator of the San Jose Museum of Art

Los Angeles Printmaking Society, 20th National Exhibition, Los Angeles Municipal Gallery, Los Angeles, CA: 2009 Juror: Peter Frank, Senior Curator, Riverside Museum, Riverside, CA

Ink & Clay 35, Kellogg University Art Gallery, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA 2009

Boston Printmakers, North American Biennial, 808 Gallery, Boston University, Boston, MA: 2009

Los Angeles Printmaking Society, “Identity”, Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles, CA: 2008-09

Los Angeles Printmaking Society, “Stones Throw”. LA Artcore Brewery Annex, Los Angeles, CA: 2008

Ink & Clay 34, Kellogg University Art Gallery, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA 2008

Ink & Clay 33, Kellogg University Art Gallery, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA 2007

Los Angeles Printmaking Society Exchange Exhibition, Belfast, Northern Ireland: 2006

Brand Galleries National, “Conflict”, Glendale, CA: 2006

Ink & Clay 31, Kellogg University Art Gallery, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA: 2005

Teaching

Holle taught Visual Arts for more than 30 years at the following art schools and colleges:

• School of Arts, Art Center in La Jolla, 1958 -1964
• College of San Mateo, San Mateo, CA 1965 –1968 (part-time)
• Cañada College, Redwood City, CA 1968 till 1988 (retirement)

Holle is Professor emeritus of the Art Department, Cañada College, Redwood City, California. He is also a contributor of demonstration drawings and consultant on "Serious Drawing - A Basic Manual" by Casey FitzSimons, Prentis-Hall Inc.: 1989 ^[1]

In his capacity as a studio art teacher for 30 years, Holle is the author of "Classical Life Drawing with Fred Holle M.A." - five video instruction tapes VHS/DVD's for the Artist-in-Residence® Series, HW Productions, Burlingame, CA: 1988 ^[1]

References