Artist

Vera Frenkel

Vera Frenkel, one of Canada's most renowned multidisciplinary artists, lives and works in Toronto. Respected both internationally and at home, her installations, videotapes, performances and new media projects address the forces at work in human migration, the learning and unlearning of cultural memory, and the ever-increasing bureaucratiz ation of experience.

Her work has been seen at documenta IX (Kassel); the Setagaya Art Museum (Tokyo); the National Gallery of Canada; the Museum of Modern Art (New York); Tate Britain; the Venice Biennale, the Freud Museum (London), and the Martin Gropius Bau Museum (Berlin), among other key venues. Recent exhibitions include Body Missing (Altaussee Salt Mine, Austria); ONCE NEAR WATER: Notes from the Scaffolding Archive (13th Shanghai Biennale, China); (EM/Media, Calgary); Vera Frenkel: Cartographie d'une pratique |Mapping a Practice (SBC Gallery, Montréal); Exchange and Evolution (Long Beach Museum of Art, California). In demand as a speaker and visiting artist, Frenkel's writings have appeared in anthologies such as Penser l'indiscipline (Eds. Lynn Hughes, Marie-Josée Lafortune, Concordia University/Optica, 2003), Museums after Modernism (Eds. Griselda Pollock, Joyce Zemans, Blackwell, 2007), and Vera Frenkel (Monograph, Ed. Sigrid Schade, Hatje Cantz, Berlin, 2013), in publications such as artscanada, Art Monthly, Canadian Art, FUSE, intermédialités, n.paradoxa and Public. Recipient of honorary doctorates from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and Emily Carr University, Vancouver, and of major awards including the Bell Canada Award for Video Art, the 2006 Governor Gerneral's Award in Visual and Media Arts, and the 2007 iDMAa (International Digital Media & Arts Association) Award, Vera Frenkel has been inducted as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada: Academies of the Arts, Humanities and Sciences, a rare honour for an artist.

Artist Code: 122

Videography

The Blue Train

2012, 09:00 minutes, colour

Body Missing, The Website

1995, colour, English, French and German

Body Missing (also 6 channel installation of 6 tapes, each 6:00)

1994, 36:00 minutes, colour, English, German

The Transit Bar at Documenta IX, June - Sept. 1992

1992, 23:00 minutes, colour, English, German

"... from the Transit Bar"

1992, 32:00 minutes, colour, Yiddish, Polish

This Is Your Messiah Speaking

1990, 09:10 minutes, colour, English

Lost Art: A Cargo Cult Romance

1986, 28:00 minutes, colour, English

The Last Screening Room: A Valentine

1984, 44:00 minutes, colour, English

Stories from The Front (& The Back): A True Blue Romance

1981, 60:01 minutes, colour, English

Signs of a Plot: A Text, True Story & Work of Art

1978, 60:01 minutes, colour, English

Introduction to Some of the Players

1977, 22:00 minutes, colour, English

Critical Writing

Using Art to Rethink the Legacy of Nazi Germany
by R.M. Vaughan. the Walrus, Oct 27, 2017.
The Singular Voice(s) of Vera Frenkel
by Catherine Elwes. Moving Image Review & Art Journal (MIRAJ), Dec 1, 2015, v. 4, no. 1&2. Intellect Ltd, 2015.
Vera Frenkel: Protean Sites and Sightings
by Dault Gary Michael. Border Crossings, June 2014, v. 33, no. 2.
Drink in Vera Frenkel's art homecoming at MOCCA: One of Canada's...
by Murray Whyte. The Toronto Star, Nov. 26, 2014.
Must-see mischief: The fundamental strangeness of Frenkeland at MoCCA
by James Adams. The Globe and Mail, Nov. 28, 2014.
In the Mosaic: Jewish Identities in Canadian Performance and...
by Carol Zemel. Canadian Theatre Review, Winter 2013, no. 153.
Part One: Language and Interdisciplinarity: (Re-)contextualizing...
by Karl E. Jirgens. Trans/acting culture, writing, memory: essays in honour of Barbara Godard, 2013. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2013.
Found Images: Experiments pay off in indie fest
by Norman Wilner. NOW, Apr. 2, 2009, v. 28, no. 31.
Between Image and Remembrance: The Psychic Residences of Body Missing
by Dot Tuer. Prefix Photo, Spring 2009, no. 19.
An Archivist Maps the Spaces Greed Erased
by Gary Michael Dault. The Globe and Mail, Oct. 18, 2008.
From the Archive: Vera Frenkel: ...From the Transit Bar at the...
by Tess Takahashi. Switch, Summer 2008, no. 1.2.
Letters to the editor: The arts and Big Brother
by Alex McLean et al. The Globe and Mail, Oct. 6, 2008.
Then + Then Again: Talking with Clive Robertson about artist-run...
by Vera Frenkel. Fuse, July 2007, v. 30, no. 3.
Boundary Blurrer: An Interview with Vera Frenkel
by Robert Enright. Border Crossings, May 2007, v. 26, no. 102.
Not Just a ride from point A to B: L'Art Boat passengers...
by Matthew Chung. The Toronto Star, June 8, 2007.
Untitled
by Sarah Milroy. The Globe and Mail, Mar. 15, 2006.
Toronto Video: Challenging forms, channelling change
by Marc Glassman. The State of The Arts: Living with Culture in Toronto, 2006. Toronto: Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in publication, 2006.
The Lingering Present: Canadian Video Art in its Youth: 1968-1986
by Lisa Steele. Analogue, 2006. Preston: Electronic and Digital Art Unit, 2006.
A Quest for the Shiny and New
by RM Vaughan. The National Post, July 16, 2005.
The digital artist
by Peter Goddard. The Toronto Star, Aug. 6, 2005.
Art that's inside the box (set)
by Sarah Milroy. The Globe and Mail, Aug. 18, 2005.
Metropolitan Chords and Discords
by Vera Frenkel. Public, Apr. 2005, no. 32.
Harder Times, Tougher Spaces
by Vera Frenkel. Canadian Art, Summer 2004, v. 24, no. 2.
Coming to Video - A Canadian Perspective
by Sandra Vida. Locus Suspectus - Where the Hidden Comes to Light, 2004. Calgary: Truck Contemporary art, 2004.
Vera Frenkel Body Missing: Freud Museum, London, March 19 to April...
by Sigrid Schade et al. Freud Museum catalogue., Mar. 2003.
In Appreciation of Generative Contrasts
by David Rokeby. The Institute or What we do for love, 2003. Toronto: Hart House University of Toronto, 2003.
Threads of Memory
by Dot Tuer. The Institute or What we do for love, 2003. Toronto Ontario: Hart House University of Toronto, 2003.
Ghosts of the Nazi past haunt Freud's house: The sense of absence...
by David Jays. Financial Times, Mar. 21, 2003.
Vera Frenkel: Body Missing: The sense of absence and loss is...
by Erica Davies et al. Vera Frenkel: Body Missing, 2003. London: Freud Museum, 2003.
Moving Images of Home
by John Di Stefano. Art Journal, Winter 2002, v. 61, no. 4.
A Tangled Triangle: Strands from the Archive-Rhizome
by Vera Frenkel. Lost in the Archives, 2002. Toronto, On: Alphabet City Media Inc., 2002.
Moving Pictures: UK/Canada Video: Strands from the Archive-Rhizome
by Catherine Elwes. Border Crossings, Aug. 2000, v. 19, no. 3.
The endless trapeze act of the arts
by Vera Frenkel. The Globe and Mail, Oct. 2, 2000.
Nazi-looted art subject of video exhibit
by S. K.. Canadian Jewish News, Nov. 29, 2000.
Missing art, missing lives
by Deirdre Kelly. The Globe and Mail, Dec. 18, 2000.
National Gallery gesture is hardly ground breaking
by John Bentley Mays. The National Post, Dec. 9, 2000.
Project/Process: An Introduction to Magnetic North
by Jenny Lion. Program - Video Pool Inc., Winnipeg, Nov. Fall 2000.
Vtape: FAQ & info
by Lissa Gibbs. The Independent, July 1999.
Northern Exposure
by Catherine Elwes. Art Monthly, June 1998, no. 217.
The story is always partial: A conversation with Vera Frenkel:...
by Dot Tuer and Clive Robertson. Art Journal, Winter 1998, v. 57, no. 4.
An artist in motion
by John Bentley Mays. The Globe and Mail, Apr. 12, 1997, no. 122.
Best of '97: Local Movie Moguls
by Cameron Bailey. Now, Dec. 25, 1997, v. 17, no. 17.
Vera Frenkel: Video an Installation Artist
by Roger Matuz. Contemporary Canadian Artists, 1997. Toronto: Gale Canada, 1997.
Threads of Memory and Exile: Examining the Art of Story Telling in...
by Dot Tuer. Images Festival of Independent Film and, 1997. Toronto: Northern Visions, 1997.
The Video Installation BODY MISSING by Vera Frenkel: A...
by Sigrid Schade. Vera Frenkel: Body Missing, 1996.
Frenkel on cyberspace trail of stolen art: A Notification of Loss
by Susan Walker. The Toronto Star, Jan. 6, 1996.
Hanging out at the electronic café: Vera Frenkel's story of a bar...
by John Bentley Mays. The Globe and Mail, Jan. 3, 1996.
Images explores technology
by Peter Goddard. The Toronto Star, Apr. 19, 1996.
Images explores technology
Vera Frenkel: Body Missing, 1996. Bremen: Gesellschaft fur Aktuelle Kunst, 1996.
In the grip of Hitler's other mania
by John Bentley Mays. The Globe and Mail, May 8 Spring, 1995.
The Body-That-Disappears-Into-Thin-Air: Vera Frenkel's Video Art
by Kay Armatage. Mirror Machine : Video and Identity, 1995. Toronto: YYZ Books, 1995.
The Body-That-Disappears-Into-Thin-Air: Vera Frenkel's Video Art
Vera Frenkel: The Body Missing (Web) Project, 1995. Montreal: ISEA 95 Montreal: 6th International Symposium on Electronic Art, 1995.
Mirror Machine: Video and Identity
by Janine Marchessault. YYZ Books, McGill University, 1995.
Vera Frenkel
by Jeanne Randolph. C Magazine, Spring 1994, no. 41.
Worlds Between: An Examination of the Thematics of Exile and...
by Dot Tuer. Matriart, 1994, v. 4, no. 3.
Perspectives Of the Body In Canadian Video Art
by Dot Tuer. C Magazine, Winter 1993, no. 36.
Worlds Between:: An Examination of the Thematics of Exile and...
by Dot Tuer. Vera Frenkel: Raincoats Suitcases Palms, 1993. Toronto: Art Gallery of York University, 1993.
Interview: Vera Frenkel & Dot Tuer
by Vera Frenkel and Dot Tuer. Vera Frenkel: Raincoats Suitcases Palms, 1993. Toronto: Art Gallery of York University, 1993.
Day makes it happen on electronic canvas: Video artist at the...
by Elissa Barnard. Halifax Chronicle Herald, July 1993.
Monumental exhibits leave deepest impressions: THE BEST OF 93 ART
by Deirdre Hanna. NOW, Dec. 30 Winter, 1993, v. 13, no. 18.
Nine Canadian artists, nine remarkable choices: THE BEST OF 93 ART
by John Bentley Mays. The Globe and Mail, June 16, 1992.
Vera Frenkel: Canada's pre-eminent video artist, storyteller and...
by Jay Scott. Canadian Art, Summer 1992, v. 9, no. 2.
Indies impressive in year of plenty
by Cameron Bailey. Now, Jan. 2, 1992, v. 11, no. 18.
The Place, The Work, The Dilemma
by Vera Frenkel. This Is Your Messiah Speaking, Aug. 1990.
Shopping which didn't fit the bill
by Unknown. The Journal, Aug. 31, 1990.
'Incorrigible' Vera Frenkel lives up to her name
by John Bentley Mays. The Globe and Mail, Feb. 3, 1990.
Critical text feeds on cultural fantasy
by Jon Kaplan. Now, Sept. 7, 1989, v. 9, no. 1.
'Sex was just the preamble': Artful revelations for an audience...
by John Bentley Mays. The Globe and Mail, Sept. 8, 1989.
Video mixed with performance used to explore nature of myths
by Randi Spires. The Toronto Star, Sept. 8, 1989.
Performance art mad for lucid journalism
by Ray Deonandan. The Varsity, Sept. 11, 1989.
Hot Tramp, I Love You So!: Rebel Girls: A Survey of Canadian...
by Christine Conley. Fuse, Fall 1989, v. 13, no. 1 & 2.
Touching the film and video edge at Images 88
by Robert Everett-Green. The Globe and Mail, June 24, 1988.
Culture For Sale: Recent Toronto Works
by Kass Banning. Cinema Canada, Feb. 1988, no. 155.
Sex, Fleas and Or-Phelia:: Vera Frenkel and Ulrike Rosenbach at...
by Nik Houghton. Independent Media, Nov. 1988.
Video News
by Kim Tomczak. Fuse, Nov. 1988, v. 12, no. 3.
In Flagrante: Canadian Video Caught in the Act
by Sara Diamond and Gary Kibbins. 1988 American Film Institute Video Festival, Fall 1988.
Notes on a Local History: Both
by Bruce Ferguson and Colin Campbell. Toronto: A Play of History (Jeu d'histoire), 1987. Toronto: The Power Plant, 1987.
Grierson '86
by Magnus Isacsson. Cinema Canada, Jan. 1987, no. 137.
No Illusions about video
by Darlene Gavron. The Chicago Tribune, Apr. 26, 1987.
Cinémama '85: The New Unity Of Woman Kind
by Neil Wilson. Cinema Canada, Feb. 1986, no. 127.
La Video S'en Va...
by Renee Baert et al. Parachute, Spring 1986, no. 42.
Vera Frenkel: Interviewed by Cornelia Wyngaarden
by Cornelia Wyngaarden. Video Guide, 1986, v. 8, no. 3.
Hope Arrives For Documentaries
by Salem Alaton. The Globe and Mail, Nov. 10, 1986.
Video In Canada: In Search of Authority
by Renee Baert. From Sea to Shining Sea, 1986. Toronto: The Power Plant, 1986.
Vera Frenkel: Lost Art: A Cargo Cult Romance
by Vera Frenkel. Luminous Sites, 1986.
Lost Art: A Cargo Cult Romance
by Vera Frenkel. Video Guide, 1986, v. 8, no. 37/2.
Video As A Social Tool: Video As A Social Tool/Video Is A Social Tool
by Karen Henry. Satellite Video Exchange Society, Dec. 1986, v. 15, no. 5.
Letters
by Renee Baert et al. Parallelogramme, 1986, v. 11, no. 3.
National Gallery Cuts Video Program: Artists Protest
by Renee Baert et al. Video Guide, 1986, v. 8, no. 1.
Lost Art: A Cargo Cult Romance: Installation by Vera Frenkel
by Jill Pollack. Video Guide, Sept. 1986, v. 8, no. 38.
Winnipeg Perspective 1985 Video
by Shirley Madill. The Winnipeg Perspective, 1985. Winnipeg: The Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1985.
The Art of Denial / The Practice of Pain
by Vera Frenkel. Issues of Censorship, 1985. Toronto: A Space, 1985.
Introduction
by Lisa Steele and Bruce Grenville. Vera Frenkel The video tapes, 1985. Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 1985.
The art of anti-censorship
by John Bentley Mays. The Globe and Mail, June 7, 1985.
Consolidation and Resistance:: Video in Toronto, An Overview
by Elke Town. Canadian Video Art, 1985. S.N, 1985.
Vera Frenkel: The Videotapes
by Robert McFadden et al. Ottawa: National Gallery Of Canada, 1985.
Issues of Censorship
by Jim Miller et al. Issues of Censorship, 1985.
The New Narrative: Video In The 80's
by Marie Morgan. Banff Letters, Winter 1984.
Vera Frenkel
by Bruce Grenville. Parachute, Fall 1984, no. 36.
Video in Canada: Process and Production
by Renée Baert. Video '84, - Recontres Vidéo Internationales de Montreal, 1984, v. sept.
Tapes by a Tribe of Storytellers: New Work Show evidence that...
by John Bentley Mays. The Globe and Mail, Sept. 1, 1984.
Frenkel's video fantasy a stunning achievement
by John Bentley Mays. The Globe and Mail, June 4, 1984.
Vera Frenkel
by Jennifer Oille. Vanguard, Oct. 1984, v. 13, no. 8.
Going Public - three evenings of videotapes by women
by Unknown. Going Public - three evenings of videotapes by women, 1984.
The Case of the Missing "Flying Toilet": An All-Out Search for a...
by Dianne MacDougall. Centre Letters, Aug. 31, 1984, v. 5, no. 18.
Vera Frenkel
by Michael Tooby. The Last Screening Room: A Valentine, 1984. Glasgow: Third Eye Centre, 1984.
Electronic Valentine: A Story about a Storyteller Telling a Story
by Sheena Gourlay. Fuse, Fall 1984, v. 8, no. 3.
Electronic Valentine: A Story about a Storyteller Telling a Story
British/Canadian Video Exchange '84, 1984. London: Canada House Cultural Centre, 1984.
Going Public - Three Evenings of Videotapes by Women
by Lisa Steele. Toronto: N/A, 1984.
The New Work Show
by B.D. Hershorn. Toronto: Litho Offset, 1984.
Video/Video on the wall...
by Lisa Steele. Fuse, Jan. 1983, v. 6, no. 5.
A Space chooses evolution over revolution: New shows a return to...
by John Bentley Mays. The Globe and Mail, Nov. 26, 1983.
Video's Voices: New shows a return to roots for artist run centre
by Peggy Gale. The Second Link - Viewpoints on a Video in the Eighties, 1983. Banff: Walter Phillips Gallery, 1983.
Vera Frenkel
by Victor Coleman. Vanguard, May 1982, v. 11, no. 4.
Vera Frenkel
by Bruce Grenville. Parachute, Summer 1982, no. 27.
An Ordering Madness: The 40th Venice Biennale
by Vera Frenkel. Vanguard, Dec. 1982, v. 11, no. 9 & 10.
Introduction
by Louise Dompierre. Likely Stories; Works by Vera Frenkel, 1982. Kingston: Agnes Eterington Art Centre, 1982.
Vera Frenkel
by Andrea Kunard. Vanguard, Oct. 1981, v. 10, no. 8.
A Question of Place 2
by Jennifer Oille. Vanguard, Nov. 1981, v. 10, no. 9.
VIDEO/VIDEO: If this event was a dry run for PAY-TV, one must view...
by Clive Robertson. Fuse, Nov. 1981, v. 5, no. 8 & 9.
Discontinuous Notes on and After a Meeting of Critics, By One of...
by Vera Frenkel. artscanada, Mar. 1981, no. 240.
Stranger in a Strange Land: Vera Frenkel
by Vera Frenkel. VISOR Impressions, 1981.
Vera Frenkel: Interview by Elizabeth Chitty
by Elizabeth Chitty. Vancouver Guide, 1981.
Vera Frenkel
by Elizabeth Chitty. Video Guide, 1981, v. 4, no. 2.
The Secret Life of Cornelia Lumsden: Automaton 79
by Lisa Steele. Fuse, Jan. 1980, v. 4, no. 2.
A Room With A View
by John Noel Chandler. artscanada, Aug. 1979, v. 36, no. 2.
But is it art?
by John Bentley Mays. Maclean's, Nov. 5, 1979.
Brushing up on TV as an art form: Toronto Conference of video...
by Steven Davey. Sunday Star, Sept. 3, 1978.
Foreward
by Luke Rombout. Lies and Truth, 1978. Vancouver: Vancouver Art Gallery, 1978.
Lies & Truths
Vanguard, May 1978.
Art, Love and Politics; a preamble
by Vera Frenkel. ArtsCanada, Jan 24, 1977, v. 34, no. 2.