CONTACTStaffCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2024 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
Scroll To Top![Winner](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 655 517'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![Blueboxer](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 655 513'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![Blackblue](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 655 826'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![Boutwhites](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 655 940'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![Redchamp](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 655 515'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![Tape](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 655 873'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![Cooper](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 655 847'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![Joe](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 655 499'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![Nathan](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 655 565'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![Power](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 655 843'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![Ruff 1](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 655 801'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![Sergio](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 655 510'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![Coach](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 655 827'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![Back](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 655 528'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![Ruff 2](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 655 819'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![Peter](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 655 796'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![Don](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 655 491'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![Sergio #2](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 655 868'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![Ruff 3](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 655 516'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![Rico](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 655 786'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![Connie](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 655 822'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![Connie](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 655 489'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![Untitled](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 655 715'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![Ruffneck](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 655 533'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![Gene](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 655 820'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![Fight](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 655 437'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![Fighter 2](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 655 827'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![Vlad](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 655 508'%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![close button](data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZpZXdCb3g9IjAgMCA0OCA0OCI+PHBhdGggZD0iTTI0IDRDMTIuOTUgNCA0IDEyLjk1IDQgMjRzOC45NSAyMCAyMCAyMCAyMC04Ljk1IDIwLTIwUzM1LjA1IDQgMjQgNHptMTAgMjcuMTdMMzEuMTcgMzQgMjQgMjYuODMgMTYuODMgMzQgMTQgMzEuMTcgMjEuMTcgMjQgMTQgMTYuODMgMTYuODMgMTQgMjQgMjEuMTcgMzEuMTcgMTQgMzQgMTYuODMgMjYuODMgMjQgMzQgMzEuMTd6IiBmaWxsPSIjOTgwMDAwIiBjbGFzcz0iZmlsbC0wMDAwMDAiLz48cGF0aCBkPSJNMCAwaDQ4djQ4SDB6IiBmaWxsPSJub25lIi8+PC9zdmc+)
![]()
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Winner
Frank Fruzyna’s career started when he was 12. "At 17, I quit high school to seek my fortune in the big city, picking up work here and there," he says. "I landed a job as a hardware illustrator — doorknobs, air conditioners, chain saws – ‘hard-line illustration’ is what it is called, and it paid well. By the age of 30, I was doing fashion illustration and clip art. My clip art wound up on everything from billboards to bookmarks."
Today, Fruzyna’s works are held in many corporate and private collections. He has painted portraits of Carmen Dell'Orefice, Matt Rich, Elio Fiorucci, Sammy Davis Jr., Paul Glick, Allan Carr, Michael and Heather Bilandic, Aaron Gold, Susan Vassbinder, Dick Bories, Tura Satana, and Charles Clifton.
"I also love painting people: portraits and figures," he says. "Every person has physical beauty. I see it in the lines, shadows, wrinkles, folds of a face; whether it’s the arc of a jawline or the sparkle in an eye, there is beauty to be found and I love to paint it."
The "Boxers" series came about as a result of two gallery exhibitions in Chicago. The first, "Men on Men," curated by Jason Messinger, was shown at Soul Café; the other was curated by Michael LeConte at Homey Gallery. Frank had started to paint the boxers, and found them an extraordinary subject. "These men are beautiful — masculine, hard-muscled, and trained to exert a lot of power in what is often a bloody arena," he says. "But boxers have such extraordinary faces — with amazing planes that capture light and shadow in the cheekbones, eyes, brows, and chin. They are faces that often are damaged in their work, and yet some beauty still remains. There's beauty to be found in everything; it's my job to find it, paint it, and share it with the world."
You can see more of his work at Fruzyna.com.
xtyfr
More Galleries
Christopher Harrity
Christopher Harrity is the Manager of Online Production for Here Media, parent company to The Advocate and Out. He enjoys assembling online features on artists and photographers, and you can often find him poring over the mouldering archives of the magazines.
Christopher Harrity is the Manager of Online Production for Here Media, parent company to The Advocate and Out. He enjoys assembling online features on artists and photographers, and you can often find him poring over the mouldering archives of the magazines.