Of Venetian origin, Giancarla Frare trained at the Academies of Naples, Urbino, and Venice.

From 1979 to 1987, she continuously participated in exhibitions at the Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation in Venice and won the 1981 Scholarship of the Ca’ Pesaro Museum of Modern Art.

She has carried out an uninterrupted exhibition activity, taking part in solo and group shows in Italy, Europe, America, and the Middle and Far East.

Among her most significant solo exhibitions: 1975, Museo Arengario, Monza; 1983, Ca’ Pesaro Museum, Venice; 1987, Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation, Venice; 1990, Musei Civici di Corno, S. Francesco (retrospective curated by Enrico Crispolti); 1997, Galleria Civica di Palazzo Crepadona, Belluno (retrospective curated by Flaminio Gualdoni); 2002, Galleria Giulia, Rome; 2005, Palazzo dei Capitani, Ascoli Piceno, Austrian Cultural Forum, Rome, Musei Civici Monza, Galerie Libre Cours, Brussels; 2006, Galerie im Traklhaus, Salzburg, Italian Cultural Institute, Vienna, Leopold Franzens Universität, Innsbruck; 2007, Kro Art Gallery and Italian Cultural Institute, Vienna; 2008, Galleria Civica di Palazzo Crepadona, Cubo di Mario Botta, Belluno; 2009, Musei Civici di Massa Marittima, Palazzo dell’Abbondanza; 2011, Museo Civico di Bassano del Grappa; 2012, National Institute for Graphic Arts, Palazzo Poli, Rome; 2014, Galleria Aleandri Arte Moderna, Rome; 2016–17, Mastroianni Foundation, Castello di Ladislao, Arpino; 2019, Biblioteca Vallicelliana, Salone Borrominiano, Rome; 2024, Villa Torlonia Museums, Casino dei Principi, Rome.

Among widespread group participations: 1983, Museum of Image and Sound, São Paulo, Brazil; 1984, São Paulo Biennale, Brazil; 1995 and 1997, International Biennials of Ljubljana (invited by the Central Institute for Graphic Arts, Rome); 1996, Museo Barracco, Rome; 1997, Modern Art Museum, Portland, USA; 1997, Haifa Museum, Israel (From Pollaiolo to Paladino. Masterpieces of the National Institute for Graphic Arts of Rome); 1997 and 2003, National Institute for Graphic Arts, Rome; 2000, Luigi Pecci Center for Contemporary Art, Prato; 2000 and 2003, International Triennials of Cairo; 2001, Museu da Agua, Lisbon, Museums of Contemporary Art of Rabat, Tunis, and Akenaton Art Center, Cairo; 2004, The Niavaran Foundation, Tehran; Kro Art Gallery, Vienna; 2008, Museum of Contemporary Art of Erice, Orestiadi Foundation of Gibellina; 2009, Musei Civici di Bassano del Grappa (International Biennial of Graphic Arts, 1st Prize); 2009, Italian Cultural Institute, New Delhi; 2010–2014, Douro International Print Biennial, Portugal; 2011, Jaffa Old Museum of Antiquities, Tel Aviv; 2012, Collège de France, Paris; 2016, Museum of Classical Art, La Sapienza University, Rome.

Giancarla Frare’s works are part of the permanent collections of museums and foundations in Europe and America.

Among the most significant: Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna; Castello Sforzesco Museum, Milan; Luigi Pecci Museum of Contemporary Art, Prato; National Institute for Graphic Arts, Rome; Ca’ Pesaro Museum, Venice; Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation, Venice; Portland Art Museum, USA; Musei Civici di Bassano del Grappa, Museo Remondini; Museu do Douro, Portugal; Galleria Civica di Uzice, Serbia; Uffizi Gallery, Florence; Graphic Arts Museum, Palazzo Lanfranchi, University of Pisa.