Exhibition of Desert Modernism pioneer Albert Frey to open at the Palm Springs Art Museum

The Palm Springs Art Museum is set to open a comprehensive exhibition on the architect Albert Frey (1903–1998). Opening on January 13th, 2024, the exhibition titled 'Albert Frey: Inventive Modernist' will feature drawings, plans, images, and models, including those from Frey’s personal archives.

The exhibition will celebrate Frey’s unique style of Desert Modernism, which “cemented his legacy as one of the most influential architects, not only in the Coachella Valley but also in the United States and the world.” Curated by Brad Dunning, the retrospective will present rare and previously unexhibited models, drawings, films, photographs, and furniture.

“One building by Frey in some other town would be cause for celebration,” said Dunning. “Palm Springs is so full of them, it may not completely appreciate the bounty. With this exhibition, I strive to show not only the justifiably well-known projects but countless other works that Frey was able to inject with his unique design aesthetic, clever and artful compositions, and experimentation with new materials. Albert Frey pursued a lifelong quest for the regality of order and for the harmony of the man-made with the natural.”

The exhibition does not constitute Frey’s first connection with the museum. The architect’s personal residence, Frey House II, sits on the mountainside above the Palm Springs Art Museum, having been gifted to the institution by Frey to become part of the institution’s permanent collection.

Albert Frey: Inventive Modernist opens January 13, 2024, at the museum’s Architecture and Design Center, Edwards Harris Pavilion, and runs through June 3, 2024.