BIOGRAPHY
Frank Oriti was born in 1983 and raised in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio. First in his family to earn a B.F.A., in Two-Dimensional Studies from Bowling Green State University in 2006. The artist returned to his hometown shortly after. For the next year and a half he worked at one of Cleveland’s steel mills and continued painting in his spare time.
In the fall of 2008, Oriti headed to Ohio University where he continued his passion for figurative and still life painting. He graduated with his M.F.A. in Painting in 2011.
He currently lives and works in Cleveland, Ohio. This body of work examines the culture of America’s middle-class, the many individuals returning to their hometowns, from the military, or failed attempts to escape their original early neighborhoods. Each portrait reveals the connect and disconnect between disappearing suburban landscapes and their residents, while also presenting questions such as “What has my life become?” Many have lost their family homes and continue to search for the lost “American Ideal”, as they deal with a psychological state of “settling;” an acceptance that they have come back to a place that they will possibly never leave again. Frank’s subtle textured backgrounds offer a visualization of the individual’s attempt to “whiteout” their lost suburban existence, and their longing to achieve the promised American Dream.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Frank Oriti hails from the blue-collar suburbs of Cleveland and his subject matter never strays far from this backyard. His figures in these paintings are all people he knows who come from similar working class backgrounds so they are in a sense, self-portraits. Their expressions portray one of settling, of having gone away and now returned and the subsequent anticlimactic reality that there may never again be a home leaving. They carry the weight of not having the opportunity to escape the lost American ideal. Franks backgrounds show an attempt to white out this mundane suburban existence, the failed American dream. These paintings speak volumes to the unsettling times we live and leave us with more questions than answers. There may be “no place like home” but that may not be where you want to wind up.
This body of work by Frank Oriti; Juried Winner in “New American Painters 2012”, Modern Painter’s “Hit List” 2013, and the First Place Winner of 2013 “Cleveland Art’s Prize” examines the culture of America’s class struggle, the many individuals returning to their hometowns, from the military, or failed attempts to escape their original early neighborhoods.
“Each portrait reveals the connect and disconnect between disappearing suburban landscapes and their residents, while also presenting questions such as “What has my life become?” Many have lost their family homes and continue to search for the lost “American Ideal”, as they deal with a psychological state of “settling;” an acceptance that they have come back to a place that they will possibly never leave again. Frank’s subtle textured backgrounds offer a visualization of the individual’s attempt to “whiteout” their lost suburban existence, and their longing and all of our searching for and achieving the promised American Dream.”
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2013 Richard J. Demato Fine Arts Gallery, Homeland, Sag Harbor, NY
2011 The Bonfoey Gallery, Return, Cleveland, OH
Ohio University Art Gallery, MFA Thesis Exhibition: Parma Circle, Athens OH
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2017 Urban Revival, RJD Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY
2014 GET REAL:New American Painting, MOCA, Jacksonville, FL
The Bonfoey Gallery, The New Real, Cleveland, Ohio
Richard J. Demato Fine Arts Gallery, Shattered Boundaries, Sag Harbor, NY
ArtHamptons, RJD Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY
Transformer Station, Northern Ohio Arts Dealer Association’s ARTExpo,
Cleveland, Ohio
LA ART Show, RJD Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2013 The Bonfoey Gallery, 120 Years of Art in Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio
ArtHamptons, Bridgehampton, NY
Transformer Station, Northern Ohio Arts Dealer Association’s ARTExpo. Cleveland, OH
2012 ArtHamptons, Bridgehampton, NY
Carnegie Gallery, Ohio Art League Annual Spring Juried Exhibition, Columbus, OH
Indianapolis Art Center, Art From the Heartland, Indianapolis, IN
2011 The Dairy Barn Arts Center, Athens Voices, Athens, OH
2010 Fort Hayes Shot Tower Gallery, Ohio Art League Annual Spring Juried Exhibition, Columbus, OH
2009 Ohio University Art Gallery, Resurface, Athens, OH
Trisolini Gallery, Surface Tension, Athens, OH
2008 The Pop Shop Gallery, Outside the Lines, Lakewood, OH
2007 Dorothy Uber Bryan Gallery, BFA Senior Thesis Show, Bowling Green, OH
Ursas Art Gallery, Cleveland Artists, Upper Arlington, OH
PUBLICATIONS
2014 Cleveland Scene Magazine. “In Our Backyard: At the Oldest Art Gallery in Cleveland, a Celebration of Talent from Right Here in Northeast Ohio” by Josh Usmani. October 22, 2014. Cleveland, Ohio.
EU Jacksonville. “Contemporary Realism. Get Real: New American Painting” by Joanelle Mulrain. September 7, 2014. Jacksonville, FL.
Direct Art. Vol.21: 2014.
Sag Harbor Express. “ Shattering Artistic Boundaries in Sag Harbor” by Mara Certic. August 20, 2014. Sag Harbor, NY.
Hamptons Art Hub. “Hamptons Exhibition Foreshadows MOCA Show of Contemporary Realism Painters” by Pat Rogers. April 13, 2014. Sag Harbor, NY.
The Plain Dealer. “Bonfoey’s 120th Anniversary Show Celebrates the Longevity of a Venerable Cleveland Art Business” by Steven Litt.
January 17, 2014. Cleveland, OH.
2013 American Art Collector. “Portraits of a Generation.” Issue 98: December 2013.
CAN Journal. “Annus Mirabilis: Frank Oriti’s Great Year” by Douglas Max Utter. Winter 2013/2014.
Cleveland Magazine. “Time Frame” by Rebecca Meiser. December 2013. Cleveland, OH.
Direct Art. Vol. 20: 2103.
Cleveland Scene Magazine. “Parma Pride: Frank Oriti Captures the Faces of Northeast Ohio for the World” by Joseph Clark. August 28, 2013. Cleveland, OH.
The New York Times. “Bringing Some of the Rust Belt to Sag Harbor” by Erik Piepenburg. August 16th, 2013. New York, NY
The Sag Harbor Express. “Homeland Insecurity: Cleveland Artist Frank Oriti Looks at Life Back in the Cul-de-sac.” July 25th, 2013. Sag Harbor, NY
Social Life. Vol. 10, Issue 3: July 4th, 2013. New York, NY
Modern Painters. The Hit List. July/August 2013
The Plain Dealer. “Sunday Arts: Cleveland Arts Prize” by Donald Rosenberg. June 23rd, 2013. Cleveland, OH
American Art Collector. Announcement. Issue 90: April 2013
2012 New American Paintings. MFA Annual: Issue 99. The Open Studios Press. April/May 2012
International Painting Annual Exhibition-in-Print 2. Manifest Creative Research Gallery & Drawing Center. 2012. Cincinatti, OH
2011 Cleveland Scene Magazine. “The Dream is Gone” review of Solo Show Return at The Bonfoey Gallery by Elaine T. Cicora. November 23, 2011. Cleveland, OH
Cleveland Magazine. “Q & A: Frank Oriti” November 2011
BLUECANVAS Magazine. Issue 9: July 2011
2010 Columbus Dispatch. “Strong Showing” review of Ohio Art League Juried Exhibition by Christopher A. Yates. March 21, 2010. Columbus, OH
Messy Magazine. Issue 6: Winter 2010. Cleveland, OH
EDUCATION
2011 M.F.A. Painting, Ohio University
2006 B.F.A. Two-Dimensional Studies, Bowling Green State University
AWARDS AND HONORS
2013 Cleveland Arts Prize, Emerging Artist Award
2012 Bad Girls for Good Art Award, Ohio Art League Annual Spring Juried Exhibition, Columbus, OH
Honorable Mention, Art From the Heartland, Indianapolis, IN
2011 Finalist in The Artist’s Magazine 28th Annual Art Competition. December 2011
2010 Best in Show, Ohio Art League Annual Spring Juried Exhibition, Columbus, OH
2008-2011 Full Tuition Scholarship, M.F.A. Program, Ohio University, Athens, OH
2008-2011 Full Teaching Assistantship, M.F.A. Program, Ohio University, Athens, OH
