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ABOUT
GLENN FRY |
Glenn was born on November 21, 1966 in Warriors Mark, a small town in Central Pennsylvania. His father was a home building contractor, while his mother stayed at home caring for him and his younger brother. At a young age, Glenn was intrigued with Saturday morning cartoons. His interest in animated figures soon extended to coloring books as well. He would spend hours coloring in these books, impressed with how nice and neat his coloring skills appeared due to the bold black outlines of the cartoon characters themselves. Over the years,  his interest to become an artist grew. In high school, he enrolled in every art class provided and experimented with oils, watercolors, acrylics, clay and drawing. It was here that he would be first introduced to printmaking, the medium he would eventually come to love and make a career of producing.
At Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, Glenn majored in Fine Arts. Through his art history classes, he developed a deep appreciation for the art of the ancient Egyptians, specifically the flat, basic, stylized drawings as well as for the art created by the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists. Further, through his advertising classes, he discovered a passionate admiration for vintage magazine advertisements spanning from the 1920's to the 1960's.
The Pop Art movement was one with which he most identified, particularly art from Keith Haring, Barbara Kruger, Jean Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol. While broadening his knowledge as an artist, he never lost focus with developing his talents in drawing, painting, photography and printmaking. While learning various techniques in printmaking such as etching, lithography and intaglio, it would be the technique of silk screening that called out to him.
While in college, Glenn landed an internship at the ABC television station in Erie, Pennsylvania. He worked with art directors and clients producing the story boards for television commercials. He also worked with the camera crews in shooting the commercials and the editing department in completing the final product. He was particularly intrigued with newspaper advertisements and the process of turning a photo into a series of dots, called half-tones, which was necessary for the printing process. To the naked eye, the image looked like a normal black and white photograph; however upon closer magnification, it was actually composed of many small dots. His fascination with this process would have a huge impact on his artistic style in the years to come.
After graduation, Glenn accepted a job with an exhibition design firm in Cleveland, Ohio. For years he worked as a graphic designer/art director, handling many projects for such international companies as Nestle/Stouffers, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Toshiba, Tylenol and Glidden Paints. While this job paid the bills, Glenn recognized that his creativity as an artist was not being fully realized.
After accepting that his enthusiasm for the corporate advertising world had waned, Glenn moved to Washington, DC and devoted his time to developing his art, particularly focusing on his passion for silk screening. In his quest to surround himself with the energy of other creative artists and to have space to actually work, he took up classes at the Corcoran School of Art and the Torpedo Factory's Art League. He has since set up his own studio in Northwest DC and has been silk screening ever since.
His artistic style is an amalgamation of many influences, styles and techniques. Viewing his art, one can see his love of cartoons and their bold outlines, the stylized flatness of Egyptian art, the Post-Impressionist Seurat dottism and Lautrec poster-style art. One also sees his experiences in the advertising world with half-tones, graphic and vintage-style ads. However, its greatest appeal is what Glenn individually brings through his own creative and imaginative efforts.
Many people think that he simply culls "old ads" and enlarges them-that is not the case. Glenn selectively chooses models and/or objects that will appropriately depict the message he wishes to deliver and the mood that he wishes to convey. He then arranges photo shoots with these models and photographs them. The accompanying text that he chooses comes from his own imagination. By pairing the text and the image, he is able to more clearly capture a thought, a feeling or a situation, thus forever immortalizing that moment as art. Once he has all of these elements, he is able to start the production of his screens and begin printing.
Glenn's serigraphs, through his use of creative methods, vibrant colors, graphic-style images, fascinating subject matter, and thought-provoking narratives draws the viewer in, reaffirming this age-old process as a modern art form that is both decorative and captivating.
Whether his art is interpreted as serious or humorous is up to the viewer, but one thing is for certain, it is something that every one of us can relate to, understand or appreciate. |
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PRESS &
MEDIA |
Washington Post Express
Style | WeekendPass
02.09.2006
Glenn Fry's decorous prints hint at historical and personal turmoil...
Click to Enlarge Article |
Washington Spaces
Immediate Occupancy
As seen in the Early Winter 2006 issue, pg. 171.
With a shift in the real estate market, A Realtor and A retailer partner to introduce Luxury Turnkey Living...
www.washingtonspaces.com |
Washington Post Express
Free Ride
Around the Way Art
Nestled in a brake-repair shop that will be remodeled into the home of the graphic-design company Fathom Creative, the art show will feature art from Gary Fisher, Glenn Fry, Jason Wright and John Talkington -- the collective who make up Studio 14 -- and the kickoff will groove to sounds from DJ Daweson...
www.readexpress.com |
The Dupont Current
Northwest Passages
Mid city Artists ready to show and sell in Dupont, Logan...
Click to Enlarge Article |
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| CHARITY |
I am so happy to be living my dream as an artist and I am thankful for the support I have received. In my efforts to say thank you and to give back to society, I have selected two charities to which I would like to make contributions. The first is Until There's A Cure and the second is the Sitar Arts Center. The Until There's A Cure organization is a national organization dedicated to eradicating HIV/AIDS by raising awareness and funds to combat this pandemic. The Sitar Arts Center, here in Washington DC, provides young people in its inner-city community the opportunity to discover their gifts in the visual and performing arts by offering after-school, Saturday morning and summer education programs.
When an individual or group purchases my art, I will be making an 8% charitable donation, from that purchase, to one of these two organizations. I will ask the purchaser which of the two charities they would like me to contribute to and I will then write a check to that charity. It is my way of giving back and saying thank you to these organizations for the help and work that they are doing in their selective fields. I believe that it is important to share with the world and to give in the ways that you can-this is my way.
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 Until There's A Cure is a national organization dedicated to eradicating HIV/AIDS by raising awareness and funds to combat this pandemic.
Our dream is that no one else will become infected with HIV. For those who are HIV positive, we are dedicated on their behalf to educating all people about the virus and the overwhelming need for love and compassion in fighting this pandemic.
Our goal is to fund prevention education, care services, and vaccine development using The Bracelet as the tool. The Bracelet will serve not only as a bridge to unite people to fight HIV/AIDS, but to help people to recognize that anyone-man, woman, or child-can be infected and that everyone should be compassionate, understanding, and responsible.
Until There's A Cure is committed to funding innovative programs which promote AIDS awareness and prevention education for our generation of young Americans. We are committed to providing financial support for care and services for those living with AIDS. We are also committed to actively supporting AIDS vaccine development which offers the best hope for reducing the spread of HIV.
To learn more about Until There's A Cure please visit: www.utac.org
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 Sitar Arts Center provides young people in its inner-city community the opportunity to discover their gifts in the visual and performing arts. The Center's programs are built on the knowledge that exposure to the arts dramatically enhances learning skills, cognitive development, social awareness and self esteem.
Sitar Arts Center is a community arts organization offering after-school, Saturday, and summer arts education programs to the residents of the Adams Morgan, Mount Pleasant, and Columbia Heights neighborhoods. The Center currently serves 300 students in the area of music, dance, drama, writing, and visual art. The programs are accessible and affordable to the youth in the neighborhood.
To learn more about Sitar Arts Center please visit: www.sitarartscenter.org
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| THE PROCESS |
Glenn printing himself in "LOOK" (self-portrait as a baby) |
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© Glenn Fry 2005-2008. All Rights Reserved.
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