Chris Fraticelli - Some Assemblage Required

We are pleased to announce the inclusion of 23 sculptural works by artist Chris Fraticelli in the exhibition Some Assemblage Required, opening at the California Heritage Museum in Santa Monica July 11, 2026.

Executive Director and trailblazer Tobi Smith has brought together an extraordinary selection of work from both new voices, and acknowledged masters including Tony Berlant, George Herms, Edward Kienholz, Michael McMillen, Alison Saar, and Alexis Smith.

Chris Fraticelli, To The Highest Bidder, ceramic sculpture, 2020

This is the third appearance by Fraticelli at the Heritage Museum, now sharing many works not previously seen.

Fraticelli collects ceramics from dozens of sources, reassembling the broken fragments with a keen eye for composition, color and symbolism. Many of the ceramics passed through hundreds of hands, from conception to manufacture, sale, and display by their original owners, before being discarded or traded, stimulating thought about time and value.

The assemblages raise questions, sometimes sharp, as to our customs, beliefs and history, all seen through the prism of breakage and Fraticelli's healing transformations.

Chris Fraticelli, Altered States of Being, ceramic sculpture, 2019

Los Angeles based Fraticelli was raised in rural Quakertown, Pennsylvania. He entered the US Naval Academy, was commissioned a Second Lieutenant. Fraticelli spent seven years in the Marine Corps, rising to responsibilities as a platoon commander in Somalia and Operation Desert Storm, where he was charged with the dangerous task of defusing mines and explosives. Upon leaving the military he moved to California and worked as a producer on shows including Jimmy Kimmel Live. He eventually left Hollywood to focus full time on his art.

In his military life, Fraticelli blew up objects. Now he pieces broken and discarded pieces together, in his words “polluting Earth with art.”