Sikkema Jenkins & Co. presents Louis Fratino’s solo exhibition, “In bed and abroad.” running at the gallery until 9th December. The artist’s third exhibition at the gallery includes a selection of paintings created between 2022 and 2023. My interview with Louis remains one of Art is Alive’s proudest moments since the artist wasn’t as famous as he is now.

In his work, Louis Fratino explores the possibility of queerness and connection in the peripatetic moments of everyday existence. By transforming these moments into painted images, a montage of recollections, feelings, and atmospheres is captured, displaying a genuine and harmonious honesty. Paying attention to interior and domestic environments, the paintings of “In bed and abroad” highlight Fratino’s turning his gaze outward and his evolving quest for subjectivity and intimacy in public life.

The breadth of Fratino’s references spans the historical traditions of art from antiquity to modernism. The formation of Fratino’s paintings in public spaces was aided by these formal and conceptual insights. Bhupen Khakhar, an Indian painter, had a significant influence on his figuration and narrative style, especially when it came to portraying common people and everyday life. A dance hall’s tangled crowd resembles the contemplative density of Max Beckmann’s Weimar-era tableaux. A dimly lit theatre audience evokes Edward Hopper’s signature use of light and shadow, while the radiant figure of the dancer onstage is reminiscent of Charles Demuth’s watercolour portraits of performers. Fratino sees these similarities as inspiration, fostering an emotive conversation between queer viewpoints and artistic explorations. A genius!

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