Frank Trankina is an Internationally exhibited artist/painter.
Born in Chicago, he received his MFA in Painting and Drawing from
the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
In his studio practice, Trankina has been creating narratives by combining characters
from his extensive collection of remnants of popular culture within the context
of still life painting.
Trankina was the first recipient of the prestigious Alexander Rutsch Award in Painting and 2024 Illinois Arts Council Fellowship Award for accomplishments in Visual Art.
His international exhibitions include:
University of Cambridge Kettle’s Yard, England; Megumi Ogita, Tokyo, Japan
(2010, 2012, 2015, 2018); Exco Daegu, South Korea; Art Busan, Busan, South Korea;
Alpineum Produzentengalerie, Lucerne, Switzerland; AHOI Gallery, Lucerne,
Switzerland; 100 Tonson Foundation and VER Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand.
Among his noted national and regional exhibitions include: (Tibor de Nagy Gallery)
SPRING/BREAK SHOW, New York, NY; ArtBasel, Miami; American University Museum,
Washington, DC; Illinois State Museum; Rockford Art Museum; Chicago Cultural Center;
Union League Club of Chicago; Hyde Park Art Center. Trankina’s paintings have been
collected into international and national private collections in Indonesia, Switzerland,
Japan, Chicago, New York and Washington DC, and is in public permanent collections
including, Elmhurst Art Museum, Rockford Art Museum, John Michael Kohler Art Preserve,
and numerous other institutions. Trankina is Professor of Art at Northern Illinois University.