Patrick Schmidt, Number 9, 2021, acrylic on canvas, 61 x 61 cm, 24″ x 24″
Music has played a huge part of my creative process. Music & soundscapes are always playing in the background of my studio. As a painting develops, I feel like a conductor or composer orchestrating the shapes and colors, arranging the yellows, blues and greens beside the reds, oranges and violets in a delicate balance between harmony, timbre, and chaos. I have always been drawn to the shear simplicity and elegance of line, shape, and color as they apply to geometric (concrete) abstraction. I have always worked with abstract shapes/forms in observation of the world around me.
I describe my work as a combination of hardedge, color fields; I use stenciling, and the simplifying digital alterations of patterns to investigate/advance the language of geometric abstraction. The first thing viewers notice is an abundance of color. I believe color has energy to communicate, and that humans have individual as well as universal connections to color. Color is cold or passionate. It rubs us the wrong way or shows us who we are. Color is political, logical, and scientific. It manipulates our perception of space and depth. Color is aggressive, angry, and moody. It’s depressive and elusive, arresting and ugly. It gives us joy, comforts and defines us.
I have always been inspired by Pop/Op Art and the vivid hues within my work are a direct result of that influence. I combine color theories and combinations found in the commercial world, along with my intuitive sense of pigment, to engage and dazzle viewers.
Early in my career, I used stencils and wallpaper to develop my compositions. Now, my work originates from a digital design process. I layer found patterns over one another in order to transform unique imagery into complex universal symbolism. My use of color is aggressive, frenzied, and political, while the groovy, ridged patterns challenge the viewer’s aesthetic prejudices. Optical transparency and mathematical geometry demand focus yet require distraction at the same time. My work is a balance of harmony and chaos. A mirror of our times, it shows us who we are.
PUBLIC WORKS
2021-current
Mondays Brewery, Peters TWP, PA | Commission
2019-current
TRYP of Windham Pittsburgh/Lawrenceville | Commission
2018-current
Pittsburgh International Airport, Pittsburgh, PA | Commission
Start with Art, 300 individual drawing(s) gifted to newborns, Pittsburgh, PA
2016
ARTPRIZE, Grand Rapids Public Museum, Grand Rapids, MI | Installation
2016-current
Mexican War Streets Community Garden, Pittsburgh, PA | Commission
SOLO EXHIBITIONS, Selected
2022
Art Venture Gallery, Menlo Park, CA
Southern Allegheny Museum of Art, Altoona, PA
2020
Spring Break Art Show, New York, NY
Cohan & Grigsby Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
2019
The Other Art Fair, Brooklyn, NY
Box of Contemporary Space, Cosenza, Italy
2018
621 Gallery, Tallahassee, FL
2017
Todd Weiner Gallery, Kansas City, MO
Florence School of Art, Florence, Italy
Future Tenant Art Space, Pittsburgh, PA
2016
Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Pittsburgh, PA
2015
Kansas City Artists Coalition, Kansas City, MO
2012
chashama 1351 Gallery, New York, NY
2011
Olin Fine Art Center, Washington, PA
2007
Roanoke College, Salem, VA
2006
Luther College, Decorah, IA
2005
Space Gallery, Portland, ME
2004
District of Columbia Arts Center, Washington, DC
2003
Mack Avenue Gallery, Detroit, MI
2002
Kansas City Artists Coalition, Kansas City, MO
2001
Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, VA
GROUP EXHIBITIONS, Selected
2022
Art Market International Art Fair, Budapest, Hungry via Baker Howard Contemporary
2021
Art Market International Art Fair, Budapest, Hungry via Baker Howard Contemporary
Baker Howard Contemporary, London, UK
Painting Center, NYC
2019
BoCs Art Museum, curated by Giacinto Di Pietrantonio Consenza, Italy
2018
Union Hall Gallery (curated two-person w/Amy Schissel) Pittsburgh, PA
Art Belt: New art from the Rustbelt, Curated by John Morris, Lakeland, OH
BG Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2017
Contemporaneous, curated by Tara Fay, Pittsburgh, PA
Ormand Art Museum, (three-person) Ormand Beach FL
2016
Contemporary Color Fields, Todd Weiner Gallery, Kansas City, MO
Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, Brooklyn, NY
2015
Christine Frechard Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
2014
Modern Formations, (Four-Person), Pittsburgh, PA
Wood Street Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
2013
ATOM Space, Hartford CT
2011
Siena Art Institute, Siena, Italy
2009
Lexington Art League, Lexington, KY
2008
NutureArt Gallery, Brooklyn, NY (catalogue)
2007
Digging Pitt Gallery (four-person), Pittsburgh, PA
2005
Maryland Center for the Arts (two-person), Annapolis, MD
2004
Six Windows, (Four Person) NURTUREart Citigroup Gallery, Long Island City, NY
2003
InterLimbic Gallery (two-person), Middleburg, VA
Art Space (two-person), Maynard, MA
City Without Walls Gallery, Newark, NJ
Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD
2002
The Painting Center, New York, NY
Schomburg Gallery (two-person), Santa Monica, CA
2001
Acme Art Company (two-person), Columbus, OH
Muskegon Museum of Art, Muskegon, MI
2000
Catherine St. Gallery (three-person), Staten Island, NY
COLLECTIONS, Selection
Denton, Cohen, Grigsby Pittsburgh, PA, Galerie Diderot, Orquevaux, France, BoCs Art Museum, Cosenza, Italy,Pittsburgh International Airport, Pittsburgh, Mexican War Streets Community Garden, Pittsburgh, PA, TRYP of Windham of Pittsburgh/Lawrenceville, PA, Siena Art Institute, Siena, Italy, Grand Crown Plaza Hotel, Atlanta, GA, Soften Associates, Grand Rapids, MI
RESIDENCIES
2023
Studio Faire Residency, Nerac, France
2020
Chateau Orquevaux, Champagne-Ardenne, France
2019
Box of Contemporary Space, Cosenza, Italy Invitation by Giacinto Di Pietrantonio
2017
Florence School of Fine Arts, Florence, Italy
2003
Glen Arbor Art Association, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, MI
2000
Soaring Gardens Retreat, Ora Lerman Charitable Trust, Laceyville, PA
GRANTS AND AWARDS, Selected
2021
Kenneth Mason Sr. Summer Faculty Research Grant; The Endless Power of Color
2020
The Denis Diderot (A.I.R.) Grant, Orquevaux, France
Associated Artist of Pittsburgh, Artist of the month award February
2017
1970 Faculty Development Fund, W&J College Research Florence (Installation) Italy
2007
Faculty Supplemental Travel Fund; Moorish patterns of Spain
2005
Kenneth Mason Sr. Summer Faculty Research Grant; Painting and Drawing as Installation: Creating an In-Between Space
2000
Bush Industries Award, Chautauqua Institute
Award of Excellence, Galesburg, IL