Chawky Frenn

Chawky Frenn
Born	Zahlé, Lebanon
Occupations	Artist, author, and art professor at george mason university
Known for	Figurative painting, political artwork, art activism
Website	www.chawkyfrenn.com

Chawky Frenn is a Lebanese-born American artist, author, and art professor. ^{[1] [2]} He currently teaches art at George Mason University in northern Virginia. ^[3] His highly realistic paintings have strong narrative social and political elements. ^[1] Frenn is a Fulbright scholar, ^{[4] [5]} and currently resides in the Greater Washington, D.C. area.

In 2026, Chawky Frenn was conferred the Jan Mitra Award (Jan Mitra Samman) in Varanasi, India, by Jan Mitra Nyas and the People's Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR) in recognition of his lifelong contribution to art, human dignity, peace, democracy, and human rights. ^[6]

Early life and education

Chawky Frenn was born in Zahlé, Lebanon. ^[3] Frenn immigrated to the United States in 1981 ^[3] and lived for several years in Boston, ^[7] where he studied art and received a BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design ^[8] in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1985 and completed his MFA at Tyler School of Art of Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, ^[3] and at Temple Abroad in Rome, Italy, in 1988. ^[3]

Academic Career

Frenn has taught art at Bridgewater State College in Bridgewater, Massachusetts; ^[2] Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, Massachusetts; ^[2] and Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in Edinboro, Pennsylvania. ^[2] He is currently an Full Professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, ^{[3] [9]} where he received a Teaching Excellence Award in 2009. ^[10]

Exhibitions

Frenn has exhibited widely ^[3] in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, ^{[2] [11]} and his work has been widely reviewed by major newspapers ^{[12] [13]} and significant art critics. ^{[12] [13]} His work has been exhibited at the Hoyt Institute of Fine Arts in New Castle, Pennsylvania; ^[3] Housatonic Museum of Art ^[14] in Bridgeport, Connecticut; Erie Art Museum in Erie, Pennsylvania; ^[3] Arnot Art Museum in Elmira, New York; ^[3] the Sursock Museum ^[15] in Beirut, Lebanon; the Bharat Kala Bhavan – Art and Archaeology Museum, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India; ^[16] Delaware Contemporary, ^[17] Wilmington, Delaware, the Taubman Museum of Art, ^[18] Roanoke, Virginia, and others.

Frenn's paintings are also in the permanent collection of The Housatonic Museum of Art in Bridgeport, Connecticut ^[19] and the Springfield Museum of Art in Springfield, Ohio. ^[20]

Solo exhibitions

• 1985    Raison d'Etre. Tower Gallery, Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Boston, MA ^[3]
• 1987    The Quest. Tyler Gallery, Tyler School of Art. Philadelphia, PA ^[3]
• 1988    Your Tragedy is Mine. Temple Abroad Gallery. Rome, Italy
• 1988    Your Tragedy is Mine. Basilica San Lorenzo Maggiore. Milan, Italy^{[ citation needed ]}
• 1991    Active Meditation. Laura Knott Gallery, Bradford College. Bradford, MA ^[21]
• 1991    Dolls' Heads. Goforth Rittenhouse Galleries. Philadelphia, PA ^[21]
• 1992    A Living Trail. McKillop Gallery, Salve Regina University. Newport, RI ^[21]
• 1993    Shared Solitude. The Lowe Gallery. Atlanta, GA^{[ citation needed ]}
• 1993    Reckless Peace. Alif Gallery. Washington, DC ^[3]
• 1994    Big. Works of Surprising Size and Impact. The Art Center in Hargate, St. Paul's School. Concord, NH ^[3]
• 1995    Art for Life's Sake. Carnegie Arts Center. Covington, KY ^[21]
• 1996    Tomb to Womb. Anderson Gallery, Bridgewater State College. Bridgewater, MA ^[2]
• 1996    Sacra Conversazione. Bromfield Gallery. Boston, MA ^[2]
• 1997    Sacra Conversazione. Olaf Clasen Gallery. Cologne, Germany ^[2]
• 1997    Silence. Galerie Septentrion. Marcq-en-Baroeul, France ^[2]
• 1998    Wandering. Voss Gallery. Düsseldorf, Germany ^[11]
• 2003 – 04  For Show or For Sure? Upper Jewett Exhibition Corridor, Dartmouth College. Hanover, NH ^[1]
• 2000    Thanatos and Eros. Passions Gallery. Provincetown, MA ^[1]
• 2000–02 Ecce Homo. Traveling exhibition: Housatonic Museum of Art ^[22]
• Johnson Center and Fine Arts Galleries, George Mason University. Fairfax, VA. Jan 15 – Feb 9, 2001 ^[23]
• The Art Center in Hargate, St. Paul's School. Concord, NH. Jan 11 – Feb 9, 2002
• Sarrat Gallery, Vanderbilt University. Nashville, TN. Nov 2 – 27, 2000 ^[24]
• The Hoyt Institute of Fine Arts. New Castle, PA. Apr 24 – May 25, 2001 ^[25]
• 2002    Thanatos and Eros. Horizon Gallery. Santa Fe, NM ^[26]
• Housatonic Museum of Art. Bridgeport, CT. Jun 8 – Jul 20, 2001
• Erie Art Museum. Erie, PA. Sep 22 – Dec 28, 2001
• 2002    The Holy Cost. Fraser Gallery. Bethesda, MD ^[27]
• 2004    US and THEM. Fraser Gallery. Bethesda, MD ^[28]
• 2005    What is Truth? Washington Theological Union. Washington, DC ^{[29] [30]}
• 2006    Art for Life's Sake. The Art Center, American University of Beirut. Beirut, Lebanon ^[2]
• 2006    Human, Not Too Human. Fraser Gallery. Bethesda, MD ^[31]
• 2007    Missa Pro Pace. Arlington Arts Center. Arlington, VA ^[3]
• 2009    Can humankind save itself? Lamar Dodd Art Center, LaGrange College. LaGrange, GA ^[32]
• 2012    Introspection: The Universal In The Personal. Cynthia Nouhra Art Gallery. Beirut, Lebanon ^[21]
• 2012    Be the change you seek! BlackRock Center for the Arts. Germantown, MD ^{[33] [34] [35]}
• 2013    We the People. Hess Gallery, Pine Manor College. Chestnut Hill, MA ^{[36] [37]}
• 2014    We the People. Nestor Gallery. Milton Academy, Milton, MA ^[38]                                   

Museum exhibitions and international art fairs

• 1986 National April Salon. Springville Museum of Art. Springville, UT
• 1987 Harrisburg Arts Festival. State Museum of Pennsylvania. Harrisburg, PA
• National April Salon. Springville Museum of Art. Springville, UT
• 1989 Springfield Art League 70th Annual Exhibition. Springfield Museum of Fine Arts and George Walker Vincent Smith Art Museum. Springfield, MA
• 1991 Tenth Annual September Competition. Alexandria Museum of Art. Alexandria, LA
• Juried Exhibition. Attleboro Museum. Attleboro, MA
• 1992 ANA 21. The Holter Museum of Art. Helena, MT
• 1993 28th Annual Exhibition. The Fine Arts Institute of the San Bernardino County Museum. Redlands, CA
• Winter International Competition. The Florida Museum of Hispanic and Latin American Art. Miami, FL
• 1994 Hoyt National Art Show. The Hoyt Institute of Fine Arts. New Castle, PA
• Staten Island Biennial. Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences. Staten Island, NY
• 1995 XIX Salon d’Automne. Sursock Museum. Beirut, Lebanon
• 30th Annual Exhibition. The Fine Arts Institute of the San Bernardino County Museum. Redlands, CA
• 1997 XXI Salon d’Automne. Sursock Museum. Beirut, Lebanon
• 1998 XXII Salon d’Automne. Sursock Museum. Beirut, Lebanon
• 16th Annual September Competition. Alexandria Museum of Art. Alexandria, LA
• New Voices/New Visions. New The Alternative Museum. New York, NY
• 16th Contemporary Art Fair. ArtBrussels. Represented by Voss Gallery. Brussels, Belgium
• 2001–02 Re-presenting Representation 5. Arnot Art Museum. Elmira, NY
• 2001 Housatonic Museum of Art, Bridgeport, CT ^[22]
• 2002 The Affordable Art Fair. Gescheidle. New York, NY
• 2004 20th Contemporary Art Fair. MAC 2000. Espace Champerret. Paris, France
• 2005 73rd Annual Cumberland Valley Artists Exhibition. Washington County Museum of Fine Arts. Hagerstown, MD
• 2006 Slow Painting: A Determined Renaissance. Oglethorpe University Museum of Art. Atlanta, GA ^[39]
• 2007 Aachen to Arlington / Arlington to Aachen: Imaging the Distance. Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst. Aachen, Germany. Curators: Harold Kunde, Director of the Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Claire Huschle and Carol Lukitsch. ^{[40] [41]}
• ARTDC Washington First Annual International Modern & Contemporary Art Fair. April 27–30 Washington Convention Center. Washington, DC
• Exhibition 280. Huntington Museum of Art. Huntington, WV ^[42]
• Convergence: New Art From Lebanon. The Katzen American University Museum. Washington, DC ^{[43] [44]}
• 2012 Galvanized Truth – A Tribute to George Nick. Duxbury Art Complex Museum. Duxbury, MA ^[45]
• 2013 Beirut Art Fair. September 19–22. Cynthia Nouhra Art Gallery. Beirut International Exhibition & Leisure center (BIEL). Beirut, Lebanon ^[21]
• Beirut Bloom Contemporary Art Fair. April 17–27. Cynthia Nouhra Art Gallery. Artheum. Beirut, Lebanon ^[21]
• 2014 Beirut Art Fair. September 19–21. Cynthia Nouhra Art Gallery. Beirut International Exhibition & Leisure center (BIEL). Beirut, Lebanon ^[21]
• 2019 Radius 250, March 22 – April 21, 2019. Art Space, Richmond, VA. ^[46]
• 2021 Inside Outside, Upside Down, July 17 – September 12, 2021. The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC. ^[47]

Books

Frenn is the author of the following books ^{[3] [48]}

• 100 Boston Artists Atglen, PA: Schiffer Books. ISBN   978-0764344039
• 100 Boston Painters Atglen, PA: Schiffer Books. ISBN   978-0764339769
• Art for Life's Sake ^[49] Fine Arts Consulting and Publishing. ISBN   978-9953004846
• Ecce Homo ^[50] Nassar Design: Beirut, Lebanon. ASIN   B0016RH0RW

Reviews

A New York Times review in 2001 described him as "a painter who has nailed down the figurative mode, and this accomplishment gives him the license to convey anything he wants, including the grand theme: the elusive meaning of human existence.” ^[13]

A Washington Post review in 2004 added that Frenn is "an artist's artist (as opposed to a critic's artist)." ^[12] In that same year, in discussing an exhibition of Frenn's works at Dartmouth The Lebanon Daily Star newspaper noted that "you might think it would take a lot to upstage an artist like Damien Hirst, but earlier this year Chawky Frenn did so with ease." ^[51]

American art critic Donald Kuspit wrote that "He constructs a spiritual space in which the contemporary public can feel emotionally at home, however troubling the emotions his imagery evokes in them."

Washington Life Magazine described Frenn in 2009 as an "influential metro area visual artist." ^[52]

References

1. "Bone Structures". Washington City Paper. September 10, 2004. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
2. Oweis, Fayed (2008). Encyclopedia of Arab American Artists. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN   978-0-313-33730-7.
3. "Chawky Frenn | The School of Art". soa.gmu.edu. Archived from the original on February 17, 2019. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
4. "Fulbright Scholar Program". Fulbright Scholar Program. August 2017. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
5. "Through Fulbright scholarship, Mason professor shared his passion for life, art | George Mason". www2.gmu.edu. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
6. "Jan Mitra Award Conferred on Prof. Chawky Frenn" . Retrieved January 10, 2026.
7. Smee, Sebastian (July 3, 2014). "Concord explores 'Sight Specific'". The Boston Globe.
8. "View Content". www.alumni.massart.edu. Retrieved January 19, 2019.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
9. https://www.gmu.edu/profiles/cfrenn
10. "Alumni Success". MassArt. November 4, 2016. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
11. "Cynthia Nouhra Art Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon". www.cnag.me. Archived from the original on March 2, 2019. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
12. O'Sullivan, Michael (September 17, 2004). "The Real Deals". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
13. Zimmer, William (July 8, 2001). "ART; Asking, and Answering, Some of the Big Questions". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved December 22, 2018.
14. "HMA: Ecce Homo, Paintings by Chawky Frenn". www2.housatonic.edu. Archived from the original on March 3, 2019. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
15. "Sursock Museum, Beirut, Lebanon" (PDF). Sursock Museum. 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 2, 2019. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
16. Sugunan, K (December 11, 2024). ""WE THE (DISCARDED) PEOPLE: WELFARE OR WARFARE?" – A SOLO EXHIBITION BY CHAWKY FRENN". Yathrael Magazine. Retrieved February 27, 2026.
17. "We The People". The Delaware Contemporary. Retrieved February 27, 2026.
18. "Homeward Bound 2021: Juried Triennial". Taubman Museum of Art. Retrieved February 27, 2026.
19. "Discover the Artist Within". MACAM. July 26, 2016. Archived from the original on March 2, 2019. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
20. "Chawky Frenn". cvpa.gmu.edu. College of Visual and Performing Arts. Archived from the original on March 2, 2019. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
21. "Cynthia Nouhra Art Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon". www.cnag.me. Archived from the original on March 2, 2019. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
22. "HMA: Ecce Homo, Paintings by Chawky Frenn". www2.housatonic.edu. Archived from the original on March 3, 2019. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
23. "Ecce Homo – Fine Arts Galleries". www.gmu.edu. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
24. "Ecce Homo: Chawky Frenn – Art as philosophy | The Nietzsche News Center". nietzsche-news.org. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
25. "New Castle exhibit seeks to 'Behold the Man'". old.post-gazette.com. Archived from the original on March 2, 2019. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
26. "The Santa Fe New Mexican from Santa Fe, New Mexico on June 14, 2002 · Page 65". Newspapers.com. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
27. "Fraser Gallery – Our 2002 Bethesda, Maryland shows". www.thefrasergallery.com. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
28. "Fraser Gallery – Our 2004 Bethesda, Maryland shows". www.thefrasergallery.com. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
29. "Archived copy". www.dailystar.com.lb. Archived from the original on January 4, 2020. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
30. "District Community Events Jan. 20–27, 2005". The Washington Post.
31. "Fraser Gallery – Our 2006 Bethesda, Maryland shows". www.thefrasergallery.com. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
32. "Professor Frenn to Speak on Art and Social Justice | George Mason". www2.gmu.edu. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
33. "Exhibit: 'Be the Change You Seek!'". Germantown, MD Patch. January 25, 2012. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
34. "Artist Chawky Frenn Lectures at BlackRock". Germantown, MD Patch. January 26, 2012. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
35. "Past Exhibits". BlackRock Center for the Arts. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
36. "Chawky Frenn's "We The People" at The Hess Gallery". artscopemagazine.com. October 21, 2013. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
37. "Hess Gallery – New Exhibit". Pine Manor College. Archived from the original on April 28, 2015. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
38. "We the People in Nesto Gallery". Milton Academy. March 29, 2014.
39. Ruxanda Renita '14. "Slow Painting: The Deliberate Renaissance". OUMA. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
40. Huschle, Claire (2007). Imaging the distance: Aachen to Arlington – Arlington to Aachen. Arlington Arts Center. ISBN   978-3929292442. OCLC   752068528.
41. Walsh, Enda (2016). "Arlington". doi:10.5040/9781784603625.00000002. ISBN   9781784603625.{{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
42. "One Fine Art | artists – painters / Chawky Frenn".
43. Barrett, Maggie (April 1, 2010). "First Comprehensive Exhibition of Postwar Lebanese Art at AU Museum | American University Washington DC". American University. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
44. Convergence: New Art from Lebanon | WETA Around Town, archived from the original on January 4, 2020, retrieved February 16, 2019
45. "Boston painter George Nick celebrated by his students and peers". New England Today. May 23, 2012. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
46. "Radius 250 2019". Shaylen Amanda Broughton. Retrieved March 17, 2019.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
47. "Mason School of Art | INSIDE OUTSIDE, UPSIDE DOWN" . Retrieved January 11, 2022.
48. Giuliano, Charles (September 16, 2013). "100 Boston Artists by Chawky Frenn: New Book Follows 100 Boston Painters" . Retrieved December 22, 2018.
49. "Books in French Focusing on Middle Eastern Topics: The Arabian Gulf, UAE, Saudi, Qatar, Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Oman and more". www.lebanesebooks.com. Archived from the original on January 4, 2020. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
50. "Ecce Homo: Chawky Frenn – Art as philosophy | The Nietzsche News Center". nietzsche-news.org. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
51. Wilson-Goldie, Kaelen (December 23, 2004). "Welcome to the doll's house: Don't mind the skulls". The Daly Star Lebanon. Archived from the original on February 17, 2019. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
52. "The Creative List: Visual Arts". Washington Life Magazine. November 10, 2009. Retrieved December 26, 2018.

External links

• Official website
• Vision Series: "Chawky Frenn – “Art and Social Justice”, Lecture, George Mason University Television, February 4, 2013