Born in 1993 in Maryland (USA), Fratino's works follow images and motifs from art history, often compared to Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, and he frequently depicts the male nude in a multicolored mosaic of geometric shapes. After graduating with a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore in 2015, the artist was awarded with a Fulbright Research Fellowship in painting and printmaking in Berlin.

Fratino's works follow images and motifs from art history, often compared to Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso

Currently based in Brooklyn, New York, Fratino's tender and honest portrayal of gay life through his paintings has turned this young artist into a rising star in the world of contemporary art. Painting from his own experience, the artist explores queer sexuality between erotic scenes to everyday and domestic scenes incorporating cubist and modern motifs, which have become part of his own personal style.

Currently based in Brooklyn, New York, Fratino's tender and honest portrayal of gay life through his paintings has turned this young artist into a rising star in the world of contemporary art.

Painting from his own experience, the artist explores queer sexuality between erotic scenes to everyday and domestic scenes incorporating cubist and modern motifs

Regarding these modern motifs present in his paintings, Fratino stated in an interview for L'Officiel, “I use the language of modernism, which is legible to most people to say something, which is that tenderness is very important”. After his solo exhibition “Come Softly to Me”, in New York in 2019, Fratino established himself as a leading voice for a new generation of queer artists.

“I use the language of modernism, which is legible to most people to say something, which is that tenderness is very important”

Fratino has become very popular in the art market. Indeed, such is his recognition as a rising contemporary artist that a large number of his paintings have been successfully auctioned at auction houses such as Christie's and Sotheby's.

Even though his artwork reflects daily life, social media has become an important factor to define the contemporary queer experience. Through his own personal social media accounts, the artist discusses the role that social media plays nowadays in society, the place of erotism in his paintings and the importance of queer activism.