Carole Freeman is an American-Canadian contemporary figurative artist, a painter of people, whose expressive realist portraits and narrative pictures explore themes of identity, emotion, and connection with psychological depth, empathy, and wry humour. Freeman captures subject matter from observed life and world events, sourcing photographs and images from the media, the public sphere, and her own personal photos. Also engaging in still life and landscape traditions, Freeman’s style has been praised by New York Magazine as “labouring with passion.”
Born in 1954 in St. Boniface, Manitoba, Canada, Freeman studied at the Royal College of Art, London, UK and has participated in solo and group exhibitions internationally. Notable solo exhibitions include Unsung at Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York; Portraits of Facebook at Edward Day Gallery, Toronto; and Something About Winnipeg at Gurevich Fine Art, Winnipeg. Her institutional debut is scheduled for Fall 2027, featuring a body of work from her Canadian Forces Artist Program (CFAP) deployment to Ottawa, documenting King Charles III’s 2025 historic visit amid U.S. challenges to Canadian sovereignty.
Featured in New York Magazine, The Guardian, Artnet News, and The Globe and Mail, Freeman’s work has appeared in group exhibitions at Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York, Cynthia Corbett Gallery, London, UK, and Leslie Sacks Fine Art, Los Angeles, alongside artists like David Hockney, Elizabeth Peyton, and Frank Auerbach. Paintings are held in corporate, university, and private collections in Canada, USA, England, Italy, Ireland, and Australia including commissions in the collections of art critics Jerry Saltz and Roberta Smith, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, Guy and Nora Barron, and Lord and Lady Glentoran.
Freeman lives in Toronto with extended work excursions to New York.
CV
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
Unsung, Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York, NY.
2018
Something About Winnipeg, Gurevich Fine Art, Winnipeg, Canada.
Selections 2012-2016, Walnut Contemporary, Toronto, Canada.
2016
Portraits From Facebook, Edward Day Gallery, Toronto, Canada.
Doing the Docs, Toronto International Film Festival Headquarters Hyatt Hotel, Toronto, Canada.
2011
If the Paparazzi Could Paint, Toronto International Film Festival Official Headquarters. Hyatt Regency Hotel, Toronto, Canada.
If the Paparazzi Could Paint, Rebecca Gallery, Toronto, Canada.
2010
GROUP EXHIBITIONS ART FAIRS
Satellite Art Fair, Brenda Taylor Gallery, Miami, Fl.
2025
Roar (Jennifer Bartlett, Louis Bourgeois, Cecily Brown, Helen Frankenthaler, Carole Freeman, Barbara Kruger, Elizabeth Murray, Yoko Ono, Kiki Smith, Lisa Yuskavage, Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York, NY.
Faces and Figures, Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York, NY.
2024
2023
Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Exhibition, Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York, NY.
2022
Chairs, Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York, NY.
Satellite Art Show, Curatious, Miami, FL. Boston International Fine Art Show, Brenda Taylor Gallery, Boston, MA.
Young Masters, Cynthia Corbett Gallery, London, UK.
Art +, Van Der Plas Gallery, New York, NY.
2017
2018
2019
ArtToronto, Gurevich Fine Art, Toronto, Canada.
Classical Values: Modern and Contemporary Drawing, Leslie Sacks Fine Art, Los Angeles, California.
Women's Art, Gurevich Fine Art, Winnipeg, Canada.
ArtToronto, Gurevich Fine Art, Toronto, Canada.
2015
2014
Women’s Art Now, Leslie Sacks Fine Art, Los Angeles, California.
2013
Art Takes Times Square, New York, New York.
Faculty Exhibition, Central Commerce Collegiate, Toronto, Canada.
Fourth Faculty of Fine Arts Biennale, Concordia Art Gallery, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada.
Group Exhibit and Auction for AIDS Research, Galerie John Schweitzer, Montreal, Canada.
1983
Royal College of Art Graduate Exhibition, Gulbenkin Hall, London, UK.
1980
British Petroleum Invitational, London, UK.
1977
1979
Janet Ian Cameron Gallery, Winnipeg, Canada.
Gallery III, Winnipeg, Canada.
1985
1999
2012
COMMISSIONS
Imjin River Hockey Classic, His Majesty King Charles III as Represented by the Royal 22nd Regiment, Citadelle de Quebec, Quebec, Canada.
2025
Theo and Lily, Antoine Drye and Jacki Moline, New York, NY.
2024
Sondra and Jim, Sondra Kitchen and Jim Kempner, New York, NY.
Giacometti, Warhol, Von Rydingsvard, Stella, Schiele, The Barron Family Collection, Michigan California New York.
2021
2022
Bootlegs: Alice Neel Portrait, Symbols (Doll and Apple) by Alice Neel, The Weeping Woman by Picasso, Collection Jerry Saltz (Senior Art Critic, New York Magazine) and Roberta Smith (Former Senior Art Critic, NY Times), New York, NY.
Portrait Commission, The Glass House, New Canaan, CT.
2018
2016 - 18
Twins (Five Paintings), Private Collection, Toronto, Canada.
2014
2012
Man Friday (Nine Drawings), Commissioned by Blue Leaf Gallery for Lord and Lady Glentoran, Dublin, Ireland.
Portraits of Norman Jewison, David Mirvish, and Ucal Powell, Harold Green Theatre Company, Toronto, Canada.
Four Paintings of Bert, Private Collection, Toronto, Canada.
Portrait of Jeremy Chilnick, Commissioned by Morgan Spurlock, New York, NY.
Portrait of Leslie Sacks, Published in African Art from the Leslie Sacks Collection, Skira.
2010 - 11
TALKS
Canadian Arts Summit, Guest Panellist, Making Art in the Age of New Media, Moderated by Janet Carding, Director, Royal Ontario Museum, Banff Centre, Canada.
Portrait Painting Party, Edward Day Gallery, Toronto, Canada.
Brown University, Visiting Artist Lecture, Providence, RI, November 7.
2018
2012
GRANTS AWARDS RESIDENCIES WORKSHOPS
King Charles III Royal Tour May 26-27, Canadian Forces Artist Program(CFAP), Ottawa, Canada.
2025
Summer Career Workshop, Studio Enrique Martinez Celaya, Los Angeles, CA.
2024
University of Toronto, Visual Art Award, Faculty of Education, Toronto, Canada.
Canada Council, Project Cost Grant, Montreal, Canada.
Cite Internationale des Arts, Four Month Residency, Paris, France.
Royal College of Art, Travel Award, Italy.
1978
1979
Canada Council, Project Cost Grant, London, England.
1980
1982
1990
COLLECTIONS
La Citadelle de Québec, Quebec City, Canada. Art Bank, Ottawa, Canada. Continental Oil Company, London, UK. Royal College of Art, London, UK. University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada. York University, Toronto, Canada. Thompson Dorfman Sweatman LLP, Winnipeg, Canada.
Private Collections: UK, Canada, Italy, Ireland, Australia, USA including Guy and Nora Barron Collection, Jerry Saltz and Roberta Smith Collection, Morgan Spurlock, Leslie Sacks Estate, Stefan Olsson (Stena Sphere), Brian Levitt (Chair, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts / TD Bank Financial Group), and Lord and Lady Glentoran Collection.
PRESS
Summer Career Workshop, Studio Enrique Martinez Celaya, Los Angeles, CA.
MIA Magazine
University of Manitoba Today
Inspiring Minds: Perspective, Sean Moore, Fall 2019.
Visiting artist aims to show 'ray of hope' in paintings, Jango McCormick, November 12, 2018.
The Brown University Daily Herald
New York Magazine
To Do: April 18–May 2, 2018, #7, Jerry Saltz, April 15, 2018 & May 2, 2018.
The Guardian
Unsung heroes: portraits of figures who deserve artistic recognition, Nadja Sayej, March 16, 2018.
Wall Street International
22 Apr 2018 at Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York, March 28, 2018.
Artnet News
22 Apr 2018 at Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York, March 28, 2018.
Winnipeg Free Press
22 Apr 2018 at Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York, March 28, 2018.
Canadian Art
Must-Sees This Week: November 3 to 9, 2016, November 3, 2016.
Artoronto
Carole Freeman's Selections 2012-2016 at Walnut Contemporary, David Saric, August 2016.
Arabella
Surprise Appearances, Gary Michael Dault, Summer Issue 2016.
Globe and Mail
Carole Freeman Finds Her Muse on Facebook, James Adams, December 2, 2011. Carole Freeman's Facebook Friends, December 2, 2011.
The National Post
Portraits from Pokes, December 1, 2011. Celebrity Apprentice, September 9, 2010.
Berkshire Fine Arts
Friend Me: Portraits and Projects, Carole Freeman, January 22, 2012.
Akimbo Art and Tech
Carole Freeman Unplugged, James Fowler, April 10, 2012.
Otino Corsano Blog
Global Paint Party, January 5, 2012.
ArtStars
Carole Freeman, Nadja Sayej, December 2, 2011.
The Star Blog
Pretty As a Picture, September 15, 2011.
CBC Radio
Friend Me at The Edward Day Gallery, Here and Now, December 1, 2011.
EDUCATION
Master of Arts, Royal College of Art, School of Painting, London, England.
1980
Bachelor of Fine Arts Honours (Dean's Honours List), University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
1977
SELECTED BACK STORIES
2015 THE GREEN COUCH
In an art school studio space, a green couch unexpectedly served as the stage for intriguing tableaux and mise-en-scènes of teenage behavior. The poses and gestures of contemporary youth, set against historical artworks, create both intentional and unintentional meanings.
2013 - 2014 DEAR ART WORLD
Salutation; term of endearment; price (monetary, psychological); exclamation: pictures from the contemporary art world in seven parts.
2008 - present DEAD MOTHERS
"Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality." - Emily Dickinson
For seven months, Freeman devoted herself to ensuring her mother’s final days were as comfortable as possible. The anguish of those moments drove her to capture haunting memories of her last hours. Yet, she felt this was not how Charlotte would wish to be remembered. Instead, Dead Mothers, an ongoing body of work, celebrates the vibrant, full lives of mothers loved and missed. Through public contributions of photographs and stories, this ongoing project respectfully portrays and celebrates mothers’ vitality and enduring impact.
The selected images depict Freeman’s mother at different stages in life, from childhood to motherhood to death, along with Freeman’s father and step-father.
COMMISSIONS
Leslie Sacks, 2012, acrylic on mylar, 10 x 8 inches
Correspondence from Leslie Sacks who died just over a year later.
13 June, 2012 4:58 PM
Dear Carole,
Fantastic visual energy – makes me look young, I suppose not a terrible thing.
Look forward to using it.
Marvellous addition to the book. Many thanks for your kindness.
Sincerely,
Leslie