Miami, August 1, 2011-The Rubell Family Collection/Contemporary Arts Foundation (CAF) has received a major donation of artwork by California artists from Boston collector Kenneth L. Freed.  Mr. Freed’s significant gift includes 59 sculptures and 14 works on paper by Taft Green, Patrick Hill, Evan Holloway, David Ireland, Alice Könitz, Lisa Lapinski, Charles Long, Jason Meadows, Jeff Ono, Robert Overby, Torbjörn Vejvi, Nicolau Vergueiro and John Williams. 23 of these sculptures and all of the works on paper are by Charles Long.

This donation is the largest received since CAF’s inception in 1994 and the first from a private collection.  A selection from this donation will be on view at CAF from November 30th, 2011 through July 27th, 2012.

Several generations of California sculptors are included; from the late Robert Overby (1935-1993) and David Ireland (1930-2009) to Charles Long (b. 1958), Evan Holloway (b. 1967) and John Williams (b. 1976).

The majority of the artists are represented by several examples of their work, showing a range of materials and form. This is particularly evident in the 23 sculptures by Charles Long created between 1995 and 2005. Long’s idiosyncratic, nonrepresentational forms range from elegant to abject and include coffee grounds, rubber, detritus and papier-mâché.

Also included in the gift is Evan Holloway’s Gray Scale, which was a highlight of the 2002 Whitney Biennial and The Uncertainty of Objects and Ideas: New Sculpture at the Hirshhorn Museum in 2006. In Gray Scale, Holloway methodically breaks and then reconstructs a tree limb, its twigs painted in gradients from black to white and reaffixed perpendicularly to one another, creating a sculpture that is at once formal and surreal.

“I believe these sculptures form a coherent snapshot of a remarkably productive period and in giving them to CAF I am confident that they can be seen and studied together within a larger context,” said Kenneth L. Freed. “I’ve long admired the Rubells’ collection, and these works complement it and introduce important artists such as Charles Long and Robert Overby.”

The donation is testament to the shared sensibility of donor and recipient– both deeply committed to ensuring that the public has ample engagement with new, challenging art. “The Foundation is honored to receive this generous gift from an esteemed collector who has enhanced CAF’s ability to provide a comprehensive overview of sculpture from 1990 through today,” said Juan Roselione Valadez, CAF’s Director.

“Kenneth Freed’s faith in our Foundation is a tremendous source of inspiration and motivation for us. We are thankful for his support and generosity,” said Donald Rubell, CAF’s chairman.