Luis Fratino, born in 1993 in Annapolis, Maryland, is a painter celebrated for his tender, intimate portrayals of queer life. His work, often rendered in oil, pastel, or terracotta, explores themes of love, domesticity, and sensuality through a lens that is both deeply personal and universally resonant. Fratino’s style draws from Cubism and Modernism, echoing the influences of Picasso and Matisse, yet his subjects—male nudes, lovers, and quiet interiors—are unmistakably contemporary. A key figure in the New Queer Intimism movement, Fratino joins artists like Salman Toor and Doron Langberg in reclaiming the male gaze to depict queer intimacy with warmth and vulnerability
During a ceramic residency at Studio Ernan Design in Albissola Marina (Italy), Fratino expanded his visual language into three dimensions through a series of terracotta sculptures. It was also during this period that he created Pebble Boy (2019), the artist’s first and only photographic work to date—a self-portrait reclining on the shore, conceived as an assemblage that merges the flatness of drawing with the tactile presence of pebbles.
Condition
Mint condition. Framed with museum glass.
Provenance
Ciaccia Levi Gallery, Paris
Authenticity
Proof of purchase from Ciaccia Levi Gallery, PariS
