Born in Niagara Falls in 1943, she found her way to Montreal where she lives with her tapestries lying atop one another on a canopied fourposter bed. For thirty-five years she has been creating needlework using wool, cotton and silk. Her mother and grandmother taught her the method. In terms of art, she doesn’t know how it came to her: perhaps from the imagination and fantasy of her Irish family that emigrated to the southern United States. She doesn’t talk about Mary-Lou Freel, but some of her tapestries speak for her.
Her father was a jazz pianist. She herself intended to be a pianist, until her first concert, which would be her last. She was incapable of playing in public. Years later, the pianist became an embroiderer, and silence now accompanies her threads and their knotting. Each of these tapestries tells a story where time is blurred like in a dream, where memories of the family and of Ireland, its paganism and Christianity, of Antiquity and the human race join together to form a strange patchwork.
Late in life, she wanted to go to university, wondering if she should study textile art; in terms of what interested her, she said she learned nothing.
Patrick Cady
Mary Lou Freel – India – coton laine polyester – 110/80cm – 1985Mary lou Freel – I was Innocenti – laine et synthétique – 230/75cm – 1986.jpgMary Lou Freel – Buddha – laine – 148/90 – 1987Mary Lou Freel – Composition – laine – 150cm/86cm – 1988 Mary Lou Freel – God’s part – laine toile et acrylique – 126/154 – 1992Mary lou Freel – the Devil’s share – laine toile et acrylique – 126/154 – 1993Mary Lou Freel – Mage Game – laine – 118/190cm – 1995Mary Lou Freel – The Jester – laine – 100cm/118cm – 1996Mary Lou Freel – The vampire Louis – laine – 150/84 – 1997Mary Lou Freel – circus maximus – 124/103cm – 1998Mary Lou Freel – Sleeping figure – coton – 100/120cm – 2000Mary Lou Freel – M45 – coton – 100cm/140cm – 2003Mary Lou Freel – War – coton – 65cm/92cm – 2004Mary lou Freel – cross – 90/145 – 2005Mary Lou Freel – Robert Johnson – coton – 102cm/105cm – 2007Mary Lou Freel – Self Portrait – coton – 122cm/107cm – 2010Mary lou Freel – coton – 120/80cm – 2020 Mary Lou Freel – Geméllités – coton et alumin ium sur toile dee jute – 84/115cm – 2020Mary Lou Freel – Angel of the Apocalypse – coton – 115/255cm – 2021Mary Lou Freel – Martyr – coton – 190/120cm – 2021Mary lou Freel – Fire NY 1911 – toile de jute brûlée et morceaux de patrons de couturière – 100/180cm – 2022Mary lou Freel – Resurrection – coton et bois – 150/300cm – 2022Mary lou Freel – Résurrection partie haute
