About Frank J. Stockton
Frank J. Stockton is an artist based in Sacramento, California. His work moves between figuration and abstraction, drawing on mythology, memory, and narrative to explore identity, masculinity, and belief. Stockton’s improvisational paintings often depict solitary figures, anthropomorphic trees, domestic still lifes, and imagined landscapes.
Originally trained as an illustrator, he earned a BFA from Art Center College of Design and an MFA in Painting from UCLA. His background in storytelling informs a studio practice that merges observation with invention. Over the past two decades, his work has appeared in solo and group exhibitions across the U.S. and internationally, including shows at Samuel Freeman Gallery, Denk Gallery, and Axis Gallery.
From 2019 to 2020, Stockton ran Nothing Special, an artist-run exhibition program in Los Angeles in an intimate, off-grid setting. The series emphasized accessibility, thematic experimentation, and alternative models of artistic dialogue.
His recent work favors intuitive modes of painting shaped by daily life and the Northern California landscape. He also maintains a body of writing and curatorial projects exploring the intersection of narrative, power, and visual form.
Born 1980 in Santa Ana, California
Lives in Sacramento, CA
CURRICULUM VITAE
EDUCATION
2015 MFA in Drawing & Painting, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
2005 BFA in Illustration, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA
RESIDENCY
2015 Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, Skowhegan, ME
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 City of Trees, Axis Gallery, Sacramento, CA
2021 Come Together, Iris Project Gallery, Venice, CA
2018 You're An Eagle Now, Samuel Freeman, Seattle Art Fair, Seattle, WA
2018 Big House, Denk Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2016 True Believers, Samuel Freeman, Culver City, CA
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 Cornucopia, Axis Gallery, Sacramento, CA
2024 Being Both, Curated by Gioia Fonda, Kondos Gallery, Sacramento, CA
2024 The Curious, the Useful, & the Strange, Axis Gallery, Sacramento, CA
2023 NOMAD, Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA
2023 Preview Exhibition: Sac Open Studios, Verge Center for the Arts, Sacramento, CA
2023 Faculty Exhibition, Folsom Lake College, Folsom, CA
2019 Event Horizon, Curated by Carl Berg, CMAY Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2019 Nixed_Index, Curated by Nathan Halwel and Wilson Minshall, Geroge Caleb Bingham Gallery, Columbia, MO
2019 Somos Art House Hosts Nothing Special, Curator/participant, Somos Art House, Berlin, Germany
2017 American Genre: Contemporary Painting, Curated by Michelle Grabner, Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art, Portland, ME
2016 Faculty Exhibition, Riverside City College, Riverside, CA
2015 UCLA MFA Thesis Exhibition #4, UCLA New Wight Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2015 Inside/Outside: Works from the Skowhegan Archives, Curated by Michelle Grabner, Common Street Arts, Waterville, ME
2014 UCLA Department of Art MFA 2015 Preview Exhibition, UCLA New Wight Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2014 Top Coat, Curated by Roger Herman, The Pit, Glendale, CA
2014 MAS (LTD ED), Henderson, NV
2014 The Status of Portraiture, Curated by Grant Vetter, Autonomie Projects, Los Angeles, CA
CURATORIAL AND OTHER EXPERIENCE
2024 Co-Curator, Up-Cycle, Axis Gallery, Sacramento, CA
2021 Monograph, 99 Typewriter Drawings, Curious Publishing, San Bernardino, CA.
2019-2020, Curator/director, Nothing Special, artist-run exhibition series, Los Angeles, CA.
2019 Organizer, Somos Art House Presents: Nothing Special, Somos Art House, Berlin, Germany
2018 Participant, Skowhegan Book Meet, NY, NY.
2018 Participant, Independent Art Book Fair, Los Angeles, CA.
2018 Moderator, Sarah Awad's "Double Field," Exhibition walk-through and conversation with the artist, Night Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
2014 Guest Lecturer, James Welling’s Special Topics in Art: Notes on Color, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA.
2014 Participant, The Status of Portraiture Artist's Panel Discussion, Autonomie Projects, Los Angeles, CA.
2013 Co-Curator, UCLA New Wight Gallery Theme Exhibition: Keep In Touch, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA.
2011 Presenter, Design Symposium: The Art of Frank Stockton, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY.
2010 Presenter, Rocky Mountain College of Art Artist Lecture Series, Lakewood, CO.
BIBLIOGRAPHY, REVIEWS, AND OTHER RECOGNITION
2023 Interview, “Creativity in the Capital: Josh Fernandez and Frank Stockton talk artistic struggles, commitment to craft, and how to carry on,” Solving Sacramento, Published on April 4, 2023 [link]
2022 Interview, “Meet Frank J. Stockton,” Voyage LA, published on November 30, 2022 [link]
2021 Interview, “Meet Frank J. Stockton,” Shoutout LA, published on April 15, 2021 [link]
2018 Interview, “What an MFA Degree Is and What You Need To Know,” by Ilana Kowarski, US News and World Report, published 12/12/2018 [link]
2018 Exhibition Review “Larry Gagosian Curates Show Stopping Booth at Seattle Art Fair and Other Opening Day Observations,” by Paul Laster, Galeriemagazine.com published 8/3/2018 [link]
2018 Exhibition Review, “Shift and Big House Perfectly Paired Exhibitions at DENK Gallery,” by Genie Davis, artandcakela.com, published 2/9/2018, [link]
2018 Exhibition Review, “Frank Stockton at DENK, Los Angeles,” by Beatrice Chassepot, beartmagazine.com, published 2/10/2018 [link]
2018 Featured Artist, New American Paintings, Pacific Coast Ed. (#133)
2017 Featured Artist, New American Paintings, MFA Annual Ed. (#129)
2017 Cover Artist, West Branch Magazine, Bucknell University #85
2014- 15 Recipient, UCLA Graduate Fellowship
2013- 14 Recipient, Lorser Feitelson & Helen Lundeberg Feitelson Arts Foundation Award
2013 -14 Recipient, D’Arcy Hayman Scholarship, UCLA
2013 - Recipient, Booth Scholarship, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA.
2012 - Recipient, Levinson Scholarship, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2024 - Present: Cosumnes River College, Elk Grove, CA. Adjunct Associate Professor; Drawing, Portrait Drawing, Figure Drawing
2024: Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA. Teaching Artist; Museum Sketch Night
2023 - 2024, Folsom Lake College, Folsom, CA. Adjunct Faculty: Drawing & Composition.
2021 - 2022, Pasadena City College, Pasadena, CA. Associate Faculty: Beginning & Intermediate Illustration.
2015 - 2021, Moreno Valley College, Moreno Valley, CA., Associate Faculty: Beginning & Intermediate Drawing; Life Drawing; Painting; Beginning & Intermediate Illustration.
2016 - 2017, California State University at Fullerton, Fullerton, CA., Associate Faculty: Advanced Life Drawing; Head & Hands Drawing.
2016 University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA., Summer Art Institute: Drawing
2015 University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA., Teaching Assistantship to Dan McCleary: Beginning Drawing
2014 University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA., Teaching Assistantship to Brad Eberhard: Beginning Painting
2014 University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA., Teaching Assistantship to Patty Wickman, Advanced Painting
2013 University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA., Teaching Assistantship to Mari Eastman: Advanced Drawing
2013 University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA., Teaching Assistantship to Don Suggs: Beginning Drawing
2010 Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD., Adjunct Faculty: Beginning Illustration; Sequential Art; Narrative Color
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS & AFFILIATIONS
2022 - Present Member, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
2023 - 2025 Member, Axis Gallery, Sacramento CA
2015 - 2020 Library Stacks Member, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, CA
2012 - 2013 Member, Society of Illustrators, New York, NY
2012 - 2020 Member, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
2009 - 2012 Member, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY