Fred Holle attended Layton School of Art in Milwaukee and Arizona State College prior to serving in the US Navy Hospital Corp (1952-56). Fred secured his BA (in 1958) and MA (in 1960) from San Diego State College. His early abstract drawings and paintings highlight his teaching style and career forward.
Holle taught studio art at School of Arts, Art Center in La Jolla (1958 -1964), College of San Mateo, San Mateo (1965 –1968) and Cañada College, Redwood City (1968-1988)
During the late 1950s, when he was working at the La Jolla Art Center, Holle worked in abstract expressionism until he moved into more figurative work in the mid-1960s.
Of the paintings Holle created while teaching at the Art Center in La Jolla, Holle later recollected “It was one of the more productive bodies of work that I had done up till then. It is the series that, up to this time, most seriously addressed my commitment to exploring subconscious reactions to the human condition and utilizing the paint, not simply as a raw material, but as an intrinsic substance involved with a vital final result …. devoid of attractive and contrived embellishments. The completed work would be the result of successive subconscious reactions to events occurring on the picture plane. In short, each attack would influence a reactive response.”
Among the many exhibitions Holle’s work was featured in over the decades, Contemporary Art Wins A Beachhead: The La Jolla School of Arts 1960-1964, Oceanside Museum of Art (2012) and IN THE ABSTRACT: MID-CENTURY SAN DIEGO PAINTING AND SCULPTURE at Oceanside Museum of Art (2015) recently featured his abstract work.
Selected Exhibitions
Fiesta Del Pacifico, Balboa Park, 1957 – Graphics Award
Southern California Exposition at Del Mar, 1957 – Hon. Mention
Art Center in La Jolla, 2nd 1957 Membership Exhibition
S. D. Art Guild Exhibition, Fine Arts Gallery, 1957 – Award
Capri Theater, One-man show, 1958
Art Center in La Jolla, One-man show, 1958
“Art From the End of the Line,” Fine Arts Gallery, 1958 (traveling exhibition) Southern California Exposition at Del Mar, 1958 – Award (Best in Show)
S.D. Art Guild Fall All-Media Exhibition, Fine Arts Gallery, 1958 – Award
Art Center in La Jolla, 1st 1958 Membership Exhibition
Art Center in La Jolla, 2nd 1958 Membership Exhibition
Vroman’s Bookstore/Gallery, San Diego, One-man show, 1959
William James Gallery, La Jolla, One-man show, 1959
Southwestern Artists Biennial, Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, 1959 – Merit Award
S.D. Art Guild Annual Exhibition, Fine Arts Gallery, 1959 – Award
Art Center in La Jolla, 1st 1959 Membership Exhibition – Award
Art Center in La Jolla, 2nd 1959 Membership Exhibition
Art Center in La Jolla, School of Arts Faculty Exhibition, 1959
“Pacific Coast South; the Uncommon Denominator,” 1960, Art Center in La Jolla – Traveling Exhibition
“Arts of Southern California – VII: Drawing,” Long Beach Museum of Art, 1960 – Traveling Exhibition
S. D. Art Guild Annual Exhibition, Fine Arts Gallery, 1960 – Award
S.D. Art Guild Fall All-Media Exhibition, Fine Arts Gallery, 1960
Art Center in La Jolla, 1960 Membership Exhibition – Award
“First Annual of California Painting & Sculpture,” Art Center in La Jolla, 1960
Art Center in La Jolla, School of Arts Faculty Exhibition, 1960
Comara Gallery, Los Angeles, Group show, 1961
San Diego Fine Arts Gallery, One-man show, 1961
“Pacific Profile,” Pasadena Art Museum, 1961 – Traveling Exhibition
24th Annual Drawing, Sculpture & Print Exhibition, San Francisco Museum of Art, 1961
67th Annual, Denver Art Museum, 1961
S.D. Art Guild Fall All-Media Exhibition, Fine Arts Gallery, 1961 – Award
“California South,” Fine Arts Gallery, 1961
“Black Folio,” Art Center in La Jolla, 1961 – Exhibition of woodcuts by area artists.
Art Center in La Jolla, One-man show, 1962
Ryder Gallery, Los Angeles, Group show, 1962
Southern California Exposition at Del Mar, 1962 – Award
“California South,” Fine Arts Gallery, 1962 – Award
Art Center in La Jolla, School of Arts Faculty Exhibition, 1962
“Third Annual of California Painting & Sculpture,” Art Center in La Jolla, 1962
2nd Southern California Annual, Long Beach Museum of Art, 1963
“Arts of Southern California – XIII: Painting,” Long Beach Museum of Art, 1963 – Traveling Exhibition
“Fourth Annual of California Painting & Sculpture,” Art Center in La Jolla, 1963
Sander Gallery, La Jolla, One-man show, 1964
“Some Aspects of California Painting & Sculpture,” Art Center in La Jolla, 1965
Hansen Gallery, San Francisco, Two-man show, 1965
Jefferson Gallery, La Jolla, Two-man show w/Sheldon Kirby, 1965
“Six Artists,” San Francisco Art Institute, 1965
“California South,” Fine Arts Gallery, 1965
La Jolla Museum of Art, One-man show, 1967
“12 Artists,” San Francisco Art Commission, 1970
Fresno State University, Group show, 1970
Wenger Gallery, San Francisco, One-man show, 1970
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