Rinaldo Frattolillo | A life for art
A Life For Art
Rinaldo Frattolillo from the friendship with Andy Warhol to the Arte Laguna Prize debut at the age of 90
Meet Rinaldo Frattolillo, American artist of Italian descent who was chosen among the finalists of the Arte Laguna Prize 17th edition in the photography section. After exhibiting in the 1960s New York with Andy Warhol and Peter Max, he made his debut in Venice at almost 90. As his birthday his approaching, let’s discover more about the life and work of this interesting artist.
You will be turning 90 on July 3rd: could you do a statement of your artistic career?
In the early 1960’s the impact of creative advertising on America was incredible and I was influenced to make advertising my career. I was employed by major agencies in New York and Chicago such as JWT and Lee King & Partners. I received awards from the American Institute of Graphic Arts, NY Art Directors Club and the Chicago Art Directors Club. My creativity and my thinking spread to the Art and Design world, and I studied at the Art Students League, Parsons School of Design and The School of Visual Arts where Tony Paladino taught. He was a well-known graphic designer and long-time mentor and friend to me. The aim was always to amuse and provoke thought. My artistic foundation was set up on this framework of constantly thinking conceptually and dimensionally – you must think of the idea as well as the space the idea takes up. One of my very first sculptures was “Apartheid” 1961, a square piece of black marble chained to a base of white granite. I work with multiple different media, from sculpture to photography to painting and illustration. I have also designed contemporary furniture (I like to call Functional Art) which has been featured in exhibits at MoMa, Beylerian furniture showroom and the Elizabeth Weiner Gallery as well as in the New York Times which wrote “it was hard to decide whether [Frattolillo’s] work was sculpture or furniture”. I am currently represented by Kempner Fine Arts in NYC.
Your first exhibition was at the Bettmann Archive in 1961, along with Andy Warhol and Peter Max. Do you have some particular memories of these two iconic artists and the vibrant atmosphere of NYC in those years?
New York City felt like it was always on the climb, something was always happening, some new joint was always springing up, and the city was always recovering from itself. I met Peter Max in a sketch class at The School of Visual Arts and we have been close friends ever since. Peter was the one who arranged the exhibit with Warhol. Once Warhol hit New York, everything changed. He had great timing too. He affected the way people looked at art. I was always impressed with how generative both Warhol and Peter were. The 1960s to the mid 80s was one long party. The art scene was entwined with the club scene. It was vibrant, alive and sensual. Funny places like Danceteria and hippie-filled dive bars like Max’s Kansas City (or as Peter referred to it Max’s … Canvas City). There were events at the Italian Embassy with socialites, tag-alongs and hangers-on. And then came Studio 54. You could usually find Warhol at Mr Chows on 57th St for dinner. After Warhol died in 1987, it was as if the party ended and things were starting to change. I’ll always remember when Warhol would stop by my office at Hockaday Advertising in NYC in the early 60s, where I worked as a young art director designing book jackets, and he was always curious about what we were doing. One time I gave him a matchbook off my desk with an illustration of a women before and after a nose job, a few months later he made a large silk screen of it. He was very quick. That’s what he always did.
On your Arte Laguna World page, you claim: “my work is about counterpointing a word, a thought or a material, in order to visualize an idea”. What do you mean by this principle and how is it realized in your art?
I approach the world in a contradictory manner. I love to put the shoe on the other foot, turn something on its head. I question the way we look at the world and bring those insights and ironies that amuse me to life in my work. For instance, my sculpture “Love/Hate” (1997), consists of the two words on a transparent piece of glass evoking the complex nature of a love/hate relationship and how we can hold two contradictory points of view in our mind at the same time. Or my sculpture “Inverted” (2010), which is the negative space of a man’s torso which questions our ideas about the so-called male form.
Your artwork “Guilty” is a meaningful representation of the justice system, dating back to 1965. Could you tell us more about the creative process of that photograph and the underlying message, also in the light of currents events (Black Lives Matter movement, to mention just one example)?
Inspired at the time by the Civil Rights Movement of the early 60s, I simply wanted to help make white people think about how black people might feel in this country. By representationally putting the shoe on the other foot. Decades later, following the uprisings in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, I decided to update the photo by adding another layer. Adding one medium over another. I painted the white man in an orange jumpsuit to emphasize the idea of the white man’s criminality. To draw attention to the ongoing inequality of the justice system and the still very much present insurgence of white supremacy in this country. Black Lives Matter!
Your name clearly reveals an Italian origin. Do you wish to share with us your family history?
My Paternal Grandfather Vincenzo Frattolillo left Napoli in the 1890s, both my Mother and my Father were first generation Italian Americans. I was born during the Great Depression. I didn’t know it was hard times, but I remember my parents telling me it was hard times. My Grammar School was P.S. 1 (now MoMa PS1) in Long Island City. Growing up in the 30s and 40s, my parents rejected their Italian identity to assimilate into American culture. I chose to embrace my Italian heritage.
What does it mean for you to exhibit in Italy and particularly in Venice?
I am proud to exhibit my work in the artistic capital of the world. In celebration of my Italian ancestry, I am humbled to have my works exhibited in Venice, Italy.
How did you learn about Arte Laguna Prize and how did you feel when you were selected?
I applied in response to a Call for Entry message that I received by email. I was very happy to be selected, and to be part of this exhibit with other artists from all over the world.
By way of conclusion, do you have a birthday wish?
100!