Tommy Fitzpatrick

Tommy Fitzpatrick has always been interested in architecture since growing up in a suburb of Dallas, Texas. Influenced by his experience assisting Frank Stella with the installation of a mural in Houston in 1998, Fitzpatrick paints boldly colored and geometric shapes arranging them to form paired down representations of structures. For Fitzpatrick, buildings illustrate the sublime notions of their architects that are transitional over time. As he stated in an interview with Wallpaper Magazine in April 2021, “‘Buildings that were once a remarkable feat of their time go out of style and are knocked down for the latest innovations. But there seems to be a quality within certain buildings and landmarks that acts as a universal commonality.’”(1 ) Fitzpatrick paintings evoke a sense of calm and peace while expressing a disrupted longevity.

Fitzpatrick’s long-term appreciation for architecture has most recently led to his exploration of unique tools and processes. He begins by pouring paint onto the canvas. He then employs trowels and spatulas, most commonly used for laying concrete, to spread the paint creating peaks and valleys on the surface. This alternative method of applying paint has allowed for a more illusionistic and obscure effect within his works. As he states, "It wasn't until the last two years that I began using non-art tools to paint with. I started using trowels and spatulas, tools that are used for laying concrete. ...those things really opened up painting for me…the paintings are becoming singular, and they are illusionistic, but they are more about themselves than they are about portraying something. I'm really letting the paint take over and letting the paint be the first thing you see as opposed to the image.” (2)

Fitzpatrick (b. 1969 in Dallas, Texas) currently lives and works in New Braunfels, Texas, and is a Professor and Head of Painting at the Texas State University in San Marcos. He earned his BA from The University of Texas at Austin, and his MFA from Yale University School of Art. He has won numerous awards including, the Winsor Newton Oil Bar Limited Prize from Yale University School of Art, New Haven, CT given in recognition of outstanding work in painting and printmaking. He has shown extensively throughout the United States and abroad, including over 20 solo exhibitions including Miro Gallery, San Jose, CA; Inman Gallery, Houston, TX; Johnson Gallery, Dallas, TX; Michael Schultz Gallery, Seoul, Korea; Charles Cowles Gallery, New York, NY; and Schultz Contemporary, Berlin, Germany. His paintings are in the public collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston as well as the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.

1. Lloyd-Smith, “Painting architecture : Tommy Fitzpatrick’s fractured modernist visions,” Wall Paper, April 6, 2021. https://www.wallpaper.com/art/tommy-fitzpatrick-architecture-painting-site-qualia-contemporary
2. Artist Statement, 2022.

TOMMY FITZPATRICK

1969               Born in Dallas, TX

Currently lives and works in New Braunfels, TX

 

EDUCATION

 

1993               M.F.A., Yale University School of Art, New Haven, CT

1991               B.A., Fine Arts, The University of Texas, Austin, TX

1989               Summer Painting Program, R.I.S.D., Providence, RI

 

 

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2022             Reconstructing Utopia, Miro Gallery, San Jose, CA

2021             Simulated Structures, Inman Gallery, Houston, TX

                     Site, Qualia Contemporary Art, Palo Alto, CA

2019             Superflux, Holly Johnson Gallery, Dallas, TX

                     Working Model, Wright Gallery, Langford Architecture Center, Texas A&M, College Station, TX

2018             Factual Facts and Actual Facts, Inman Gallery, Houston, TX

2017             Crystal Cities: New Paintings & Sculptures, Holly Johnson Gallery, Dallas, TX

                     Recognition of Sight, Texas Art House, Johnson City, TX

2015            Cat’s Cradle, Inman Gallery, Houston, TX

2014             Gordian Knot, Holly Johnson Gallery, Dallas, TX

2013             Flatland, Inman Gallery, Houston, TX

2012             Electric Labyrinth, Holly Johnson Gallery, Dallas, TX

2011             Inman Gallery, Houston, TX

2009             CITY FACES, Michael Schultz Gallery, Seoul, Korea

2008             Dematerializing, Inman Gallery, Houston, TX

2007             Spectacle, Charles Cowles Gallery, New York, NY

2006             Bridge, Schultz Contemporary, Berlin, Germany

                     Façade, Holly Johnson Gallery, Dallas, TX

2005            Working Spaces, Inman Gallery, Houston, TX

                     Curtain Wall, Charles Cowles Gallery, New York, NY

2004            Object Lessons: A Survey of Work from 1997-2004, Galveston Arts Center, Galveston, TX                     

                     Traveling to Texas A&M at Commerce, Commerce, TX, & Arlington Museum of Art, Arlington, TX

2003             Charles Cowles Gallery, New York, NY

2002             Twilight, Inman Gallery, Houston, TX

2001             Charles Cowles Gallery, New York, NY

2000             Recent Work, Inman Gallery, Houston, TX

1999             Recent Work, Inman Gallery, Houston, TX

                     Recent Work, Montgomery College, Conroe, TX

1998            In the Back Gallery: Tommy Fitzpatrick, Inman Gallery, Houston, TX

1994             The Buttonwood Tree, Middletown, CT

1993             M.F.A. Thesis Show, Art & Architecture Gallery, Yale University School of Art, New Haven, CT