Ralph Frisina began his creative career in commercial design, co-founding a boutique design firm in the late 1980’s where he created identities and graphics for the Berkshire Museum, Clark Art Institute, Norman Rockwell Museum, Tanglewood and the Berkshire Theatre Group, among many other entities. His design and illustration work has won numerous regional and national awards and has appeared in the New York Times, USA Today and Print Magazine. He’s a recent inductee to the Rockport Art Association and has exhibited paintings at the Berkshire Museum, Lenox Library and RAA&M. Ralph holds a degree in Visual Communication from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and studied under Milton Glaser at the School of Visual Arts in New York.

Frisina describes his work as abstract realism, and it spans various mediums from oil paint to ceramics. Drawn from vintage or industrial subject matter, his latest paintings explore the finality of objects and the character imbued on them throughout a lifespan. The documentation of human ingenuity – or the thoughtful preservation of an object – is integral to his recent works. While nature isn’t often the sole subject, it’s instead portrayed as an outside force to be acknowledged, appreciated, or contested.

Recent Awards: 

Rockport Art Association: Jacki Harrington Memorial Award for painting 2022

Berkshire Museum: Best in Show, Visual Evidence 2022 (juried exhibit of 66 works)

Awarded an upcoming solo show slated for 2023 at the Berkshire Museum .