The Whimsical Collector

The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas is honoured to announce the upcoming exhibition of The Whimsical Collector, a mid-career survey of works by Kendra Frorup (nee Hamilton), opening on Thursday, March 24th, 2022 and running until June 19th, 2022 (extended until August 14th. 2022).

The Whimsical Collector presents Frorup’s robust body of work which spans from 1989 – present in an exhibit of over 70 works. A quick-witted Bahamian multi-media artist whose work includes large scale installations that incorporate printmaking and sculptural practices, Frorup cleverly explores material and interactive elements that have delighted audiences everywhere. Frorup will also present a new collaborative installation that includes elements from the wider Bahamian community.

Thematically, Frorup introduces found objects with a sophisticated wink and nod to play in the process of making. The artist extrapolates and creates new meanings, lends from borrowed meanings, and instigates connections to her island upbringing. The Whimsical Collector gives a full-fledged visit into Frorup’s practice and process while revisiting the roads that were taken to lead her to the work she produces today.

Kendra Frorup was born in 1956 in Nassau, N.P., The Bahamas, where she grew up in the Yellow Elder community with her mother and siblings. During her formative years, she worked outside the city with her family on her mother’s farm on the south side of New Providence. Frorup’s fascination with materiality and her meticulous construction techniques are informed by the time she spent working alongside her contractor father.

Frorup received her BFA in Sculpture from the University of Tampa (1992) and her MFA in Sculpture from Syracuse University (1996). Frorup is the mother of Alexis Hamilton and wife to Norman Frorup.