Tony Fitzpatrick in Rockland, Maine

I was excited to see the Art News (May 2010, p. 53) advertisement for Tony Fitzpatrick's show at Dowling Walsh Gallery in Rockland, Maine. He's one of my favorite collage artists. (See previous posts here.)

Tony's work will be displayed in a solo exhibition from Thursday, May 27th through Saturday, June 26th, with an opportunity to meet and speak with the artist on Thursday, May 27th, from 5-7 p.m. and a reception on Friday, May 28th, from 5-7 p.m. in the gallery.

I absolutely adore "Drawing for Crazy Horse #2 (Thunder Being)" and "Hell's Songbird (For Doc Holliday)" and I can't wait to see them (and the artist) in person! Check out Tony's blog, No. 9 - An Artist's Journey.

Favorite Artist From Chicago

I've never been to Chicago but I love this image of the city at night with the clock tower and the full moon.

Chicago is the stomping ground of Tony Fitzpatrick, one of my favorite contemporary collage artists. Formerly a tattoo artist and semi-professional boxer, self-instructed Chicago artist Tony Fitzpatrick is a renegade in the contemporary art scene. He includes lots of ephemera in his work which has been described as visual poetry exacto-bladed out of old matchbook covers.

Davidson Galleries offers some of his older work from 1992-2000, and this Poetry Foundation interview includes a nice slide show of thirteen of his more recent collages. I wrote about about him in an earlier blog post here.

And Tony has a blog called No. 9 - An Artist's Journey which I enjoy very much.

"Art is a kind of rebirth. It is what elevates us above darkness, tragedy and furious loss. " (T. F.)

"Art is how we cheat death: We make that which outlasts us." (T. F.)

Happy Postcard Friendship Friday to you all!

Music Wish List

There's a new Steve Earle CD available in May featuring songs written by Townes Van Zandt and cover art by Tony Fitzpatrick.

Steve Earle and Tony Fitzpatrick

Back in Beverly when I used to tape off the radio, my favorite station (which only came in late at night) played some great music by Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt and Steve Earle. I've just learned that Earle is a Tony Fitzpatrick fan.

The cover art of nine or so of his music CD's are Fitzpatrick collages. There is I Feel Alright (1996) with snakes and flowers; El Corazon (1997) with a Mexican Loteria heart; The Mountain (1999) with magnolia; Transcendental Blues (2000) with a black tulip; Side Tracks (2002) with a star; Jerusalem (2002) with snake; Just an American Boy (2003) with a bird; Revolution Starts. . . Now (2004) with a star; Washington Square Serenade (2007) with a flowered dog; and for die hard vinyl fans, The Mountain will be released as an LP record on January 20th.

And a bit more Tony Fitzpatrick trivia. I read he had a part in Jonathan Demme's 1993 film Philadelphia. It's now #1 in my Netflix queue! (Update 22 Jan. 2009: He plays a bartender.)

Tony Fitzpatrick

I've been spending a lot of time looking at the collages of Tony Fitzpatrick. I admire his work so much that I've added his site to my list of favorite artists. Most of his work is small for all of its wealth of detail: 6x9 inches or 10x13 inches usually. All feature his characteristic pasted up patterned borders, somewhat reminiscent of the style of Felipe Jesus Consalvos. There is frequently a dominant symbol in the center: sometimes as a flat single colored silhouette, other times an object stylistically decorated. In some pieces, a message spelled out in letters cut from different colored ephemera is the main focus. The work frequently includes poetic handwritten words arranged vertically and flush with the left and right borders. The backgrounds are always a flat color upon which a myriad of small objects are arranged. There is usually some reoccurring pattern like a dotted line, a string of beads or the suggestion of a constellation of stars that provides visual unity. A background consisting of a ruled grid can be seen in most of Fitzpatrick's later pieces. All of his work makes use of bright color contrast, interesting vintage found imagery (sheet music, matchbook covers, advertising and the like) in combination with painted elements that invite closer scrutiny.

Here's a link to a 2005 interview with Tony Fitzpatrick at Reader's Voice (he likes James Ellroy). I've just ordered a book of Fitzpatrick's art called The Wonder: Portraits of a Remembered City -- The Dream City and I can't wait to see it!