FROSCH&CO Team by Jirí Vurma
We recently connected with Eva Frosch and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Eva, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
I originally trained as a nurse in Switzerland—my dream job since I was six. After a while, I wanted to return to school and continue learning. I was torn between medicine, law, and art history, and ultimately chose art history while continuing to work part-time as an ER nurse. Art was my passion, and even though I knew jobs in this field were not that easy to come by, I had the freedom to choose that path as I would have a reliable fallback. I loved the contrast between the two worlds, the hands-on urgency of the ER and the long, nuanced conversations about art and architecture.
After moving to New York, I never pursued a nursing license here and instead focused on my career in the arts. I started with gallery internships, then a fellowship at MoMA, and worked as a studio manager for an established artist. I then became the gallery director at the legendary Jack the Pelican Presents in Williamsburg, where I learned everything about running a contemporary art space.
In 2009, I co-founded frosch&portmann with my friend from the University of Zürich, HP Portmann. We ran the gallery on the Lower East Side for ten years. When the pandemic hit and HP could no longer travel and decided to return to school, I took time to reflect on whether I wanted to continue. In the end, I realized how deeply I love working with art and artists and decided to keep going. That led to the next chapter: FROSCH&CO, now in its fourth year in Chinatown.
FROSCH&CO with artist Steve Greene
Eva, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My name is Eva Frosch. I’m originally from Switzerland and have been living permanently in New York City since 2004, though my connection to the city began in 2001 when I started moving back and forth between Switzerland and NYC. I now live in the East Village and Long Island. I’m married to Lloyd, and we have 2 sons who are now young adults.
I’m the owner and director of FROSCH&CO, a contemporary gallery committed to representing artists with an affinity towards witty intelligence. We are interested in presenting an innovative yet art-historically grounded curatorial model that challenges established paradigms. Art should stimulate, maybe provoke–but, above all, its quality should stand the test of time.
I’m proud that I built something of my own while raising 2 wonderful sons, balancing family and a career can been challenging but also incredibly fulfilling. I’m a hard worker, it’s not easy to survive with a small gallery in NYC, where everything is competitive and expensive, but I’m proud that the gallery has been around for 15 years now.
FROSCH&CO with Group Exhibition PEAKS artists
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
Running a gallery is hard work. But working with art and artists, and sharing their creativity with others is such a privilege, It still excites me.. The name FROSCH&CO reflects a spirit of collaboration, the CO stands for the people we work with, the artists…it’s always been about the artists. As mentioned before, during the pandemic, I took time to reflect on whether I wanted to continue. In the end, I realized how deeply my passion was and despite all the challenges decided to keep going.
Opening Crowd
Have you ever had to pivot?
During the pandemic, when everything shifted online, I really missed having a physical gallery space and the in-person connection with collectors. While I had to adapt and focus more on digital platforms( and continue to do so) I still believe strongly in the value of the traditional gallery model. That said, things have clearly changed: more happens online now, especially through social media, and whether we like it or not, we have to be part of that shift
Contact Info:
- Website: https://froschandco.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frosch.and.co/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/froschandco
- Other: https://www.artsy.net/partner/frosch-and-co
Gallery Talk/Walk Through with artist Maria Bussmann
Barbara Friedman Exhibition
With artist Yanik Wagner
FROSCH&CO with Group Exhibition EAT THE HEAT artists