Gary Frier (b. 1972, Cape Town) and grew up in the then segregated northern suburb of Kuilsriver in the Western Cape. In 2004 he qualified as a Graphic Designer at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. After working in various design industries, Gary moved to create art of a more personal nature. Moving towards activist art making, Frier thinks of art as a space of constant self-reflection on positionality. Gary has exhibited extensively: from the Design Indaba in Cape Town, to the UK, Germany, France, Kenya and the Netherlands. Through his exhibitions he aims to make a difference as much as he can, such as 2006 P O S I + I V E “HOPE” Art Exhibition from which proceeds were donated to the Tapologo Aids Hospice, which performs an invaluable service in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Gary’s work has a strong graphic quality. He is interested in imbuing the two-dimensional image of his chosen subject with an expressive mood and personality. Gary combines contemporary and historical African elements and juxtaposes masks, photography, fabric detail and colour with urban figures. His themes and subjects are inspired by socio-political themes as well as the art and craft of cultures that live or have lived close to nature. For this exhibition, the artwork is a commentary on the impact of culture and environment that shape lives in our communities. Some of the iconography, derived from gangster tattoos, references the unseen influences that characterize communities before they become body art. These cultural “Emojis” speak the language of a lived experience of traumatized communities.

As well as working on his art, Gary also teaches/facilitates at The Observatory Neighbourhood Afterschool Programme, an NGO which provides educational and cultural programs for youth at risk, in addition to working in the occupational therapy department at Valkenburg Psychiatric hospital. Gary Frier lives and works the Western Cape, predominately from his studio at his home in Kuilsriver, Cape Town.