Louis Fratino Explained

Louis Fratino (born 1993) is an American visual artist.^[1]

Education

Fratino graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD in 2015. Fratino was a recipient of a Fulbright Research Fellowship in Painting, Berlin, 2015–2016 and a Yale Norfolk Painting Fellowship, Norfolk, CT in 2014.^[2]

Work

Fratino collects illustrated children's books. Some of his paintings are based on the photographs of Vince Aletti in Male.^[3]  

Art critic Holland Carter writes of Fratino's paintings, "Seemingly painted mostly in the same interior, they are also hot with the pleasure of lying-around-the-house domesticity, of shared privacy. And they are hot too with painterly attention and erudition — inviting a similar scrutiny from the viewer. Nearly every brush stroke and mark, every detail of furnishings and body hair, has a life of its own."^[4] Similarly, Antwaun Sargent writes in The New York Times, "Fratino and these other contemporary gay figure artists share a philosophy, despite their different aesthetics: They’re all committed to reflecting the mostly unseen interior lives of the men they admire, and to celebrating a diverse set of subjects who, taken together, stand in opposition to a canonical history of art that has long ignored an openly gay view of the male body."^[5]

Exhibitions

• Come Softly to Me, Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York, NY, 2019
• Heirloom, Galerie Antoine Levi, Paris, France, 2018^[6]
• So, I’ve got you, Thierry Goldberg Gallery, New York, NY, 2017^[7]
• Own, Only, Monya Rowe Gallery, St. Augustine, FL, 2017^[8]
• With everyone, Thierry Goldberg Gallery, New York, NY, 2016
• Reasons, Platform Gallery, Baltimore, MD, 2016^[9]

References

1. Web site: 'Boys Do It Better': The Paintings of Louis Fratino. Alessandrini. Christopher. 2019-05-18. The New York Review of Books. en. 2019-09-25.
2. Web site: Louis Fratino . 2023-12-07 . Sikkema Jenkins & Co. . en-US.
3. Web site: Louis Fratino. Work in Progress. en-US. 2018-12-29.
4. News: What to See in New York Art Galleries This Week. Cotter. Holland. 2017-09-28. The New York Times. 2018-12-28. Smith. Roberta. en-US. 0362-4331. Schwendener. Martha.
5. News: These Gay Figure Artists Are Reimagining the Male Gaze. Sargent. Antwaun. 2018-09-17. The New York Times. 2018-12-28. en-US. 0362-4331.
6. Web site: "Heirloom", Louis Fratino « Galerie Antoine Levi. antoinelevi.fr. 2019-09-25.
7. Web site: Louis Fratino So I've Got You Images — Thierry Goldberg Gallery. thierrygoldberg.com. en. 2019-09-25.
8. Web site: Monya Rowe Gallery - Own, Only. monyarowegallery.com. 2019-09-25.
9. Web site: REASONS. platform-gallery. en. 2019-09-25.