I aim to create - by direct observation or invented from my imagination - highly realistic images of the world which wander from familiar and mundane, to haunting and surreal. Francis DiFronzo was born in November of 1969 in San Pedro, California. At a young age, he discovered that visual art had the ability to transport him to different places and eras. It was this experience coupled with his affinity for the craft that solidified his commitment to becoming a painter.
After receiving his B.F.A in 1994 from the University of California, Fullerton, DiFronzo moved to Philadelphia where he continued his studies in drawing and painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where he earned his M.F.A in 1996. He has been awarded several prestigious grants including the Stobbart Foundation Fellowship in the Arts in 1998 and the Pew Fellowship in the Arts in 2004.
DiFronzo’s ethereal paintings depict imagined landscapes from a world of his own creation. His haunting but beautiful paintings alternate between reality and the surreal as they present desolate and mysterious places reminiscent of the iconic American West. DiFronzo's acclaimed works are exhibited nationally and are in private collections throughout the United States.