Courtesy: the artists and Galerie Isabella Bortolozzi, Berlin
'Fugue', 2022, exhibition view, Galerie Isabella Bortolozzi, Berlin. While hugs are certainly not going to solve anything in these dire times, they might help us feel less alone. His right hand tenderly caresses his left arm as he stands next to a pile of books. Studio Nude (2022), for instance, shows a zoomed-in snippet of a naked young man’s hip and arm. Titled ‘Die bunten Tage’ (‘The Colourful Days’), Fratino’s first solo exhibition at Galerie Neu offers a comprehensive account of the 29-year-old’s practice, which veers between provokingly explicit visuals of gay male sex and private, non-sexual intimacies. In his large-scale oil paintings, New York-based artist Louis Fratino relives his recollections of sexual encounters, delicate touches and domestic scenes, referencing Western art movements such as fauvism and cubism. Memories are like sparkling water that has lost its fizz: cerebral relics that once were vibrantly present. Courtesy: the artist and Galerie Neu, Berlin photograph: Stefan Korte Louis Fratino, 2022, exhibition view, Galerie Neu, Berlin.
