Thierry Goldberg is pleased to present So, I’ve got you, a solo exhibition by Louis Fratino, the artist’s second with the gallery. The show opens on Sunday, September 10th, with a reception from 6–8pm, and will run through Sunday, October 8th, 2017.
Inspired by events from his past, if even only tangentially via moods or remembered environments, Louis Fratino conjures a sentimentality that feels both relatable and universal. In his hand, quotidian activities like eating, lounging, or loving, become opportunities to reflect on the complexities of life, as small, carefully crafted details compound and multiply to create accessible avenues for viewers.
Through depictions of intimate moments, Fratino expands upon concepts of desire and male sexuality. “I’m thinking about the viewer and letting the viewer be me,” says Fratino in an interview about his work. “I like to include bits of people as well, so there are small parts of yourself that you can see as if in your periphery, which is an indication that you are that person. I want the viewer to feel what I’m feeling.” By incorporating specific peripheral features, Fratino’s pieces meld perspectives and are freed from strict portraiture.
In these observed settings, which are rendered with a concerted care for their tactility and surface textures, people are painted in vibrant hues, outstretched limbs and appendages range in value, pushing disparate bodies to an almost indistinguishable unity. Regardless of whether we see ourselves in them, subjects seem self-assured and open to exploring theirs and other worlds.
Louis Fratino (b. 1993, Maryland), currently lives and works in New York. He holds a B.F.A. from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). He recently had solo shows at Monya Rowe Gallery (St. Augustine, FL), Thierry Goldberg Gallery (New York, NY), and Platform Gallery (Baltimore, MD). His work was also recently included in group exhibitions at HILDE Gallery (Los Angeles, CA), Harpy Gallery (Rutherford, NJ), and Thierry Goldberg Gallery (New York, NY). He completed a Fulbright research Fellowship in Painting in Berlin, DE, and has also concluded the Yale Norfolk Painting Fellowship at the Yale Summer School of Art and Music in Norfolk, CT. His work has also been featured in exhibitions at Maryland Institute of Art (Baltimore, MD), Geoffrey Young Gallery (Great Barrington, MA), Current Space (Baltimore, MD), and SessionSpace (Oakland, CA), among others.