In process...sabado

In process...esta mañana

Some new paintings are underway in the studio, larger works on panels (160x115cm) which combine varnish, lacquer and oil paint:

Portraits of unseen people - Rolf Bier

Since 2004 the German artist Rolf Bier, who I have known since my student days, has been making a series of small paintings called "portraits of unknown people". There are over 270 works in this series which perhaps bring to mind certain portraits by the composer Arnold Schoenberg. They are remarkably full of space...the heads almost become open fields and merge with the background. They seem to combine a comical aspect with something that is almost traumatic. Loosly painted in quite a direct manner they are fragile, slight yet very moving. Rolf Bier will show a number of these paintings at the Kunstmuseum Celle mit Sammlung Robert Simon, in Celle, Germany. Here is an image and information about the show:



R o l f B i e r

Portraits of Unseen People / 2004 - 2009
15.03. – 31.05.2009


Eröffnung / private view am Sonntag, 15. März 2009, 11.30 h

Begrüssung / welcome Robert Simon
Leiter des Kunstmuseum Celle mit Sammlung Robert Simon

Es spricht /speech Andreas Baur
Leiter der Villa Merkel , Galerien der Stadt Esslingen am Neckar


Zur Ausstellung erscheint ein Katalog / catalogue mit
Texten / texts by / von Ludwig Seyfarth und Jan Verwoert
Verlag / publisher modo - Freiburg , Gestaltung / design neumade – Hannover. ISBN 978-3-86833-024-3

Rolf Bier PoUP- H/23), 2008 Acryl auf Nessel 50 x 40 cm

Kunstmuseum Celle mit Sammlung Robert Simon
Schlossplatz 7 29221 Celle Dienstag - Sonntag 10:00 - 17:00 Uhr

Paintings that happen by themselves...

There are many fleeting moments when a painting suddenly comes into being, seen by the minds eye, unexpectedly and without any paint as such. Most of them disappear into oblivion but occasionally at least, they can be documented by a snapshot. Here is a "painting" I salvaged with my camera. A window display at night in Calle León, Madrid, taken the other day....

Home again....things seen...

Calle Atocha, the view from my hotel room.




Gunter Förg at ARCO.





This little painting by Alex Katz is called "Reflection" also seen at ARCO.






Shadows in Calle Atocha.






I took this image in a side street near Calle Alcala.






Closed up bar in Calle León.






This small piece is by Helmut Federle.

Madrid

Off to Madrid for a few days for ARCO madrid 2009 (Rubicon Gallery: Hall 10, booth A40.02)

- few other things to see around town too, Paul Thek at the Reina Sofia for example. Hope to report back soon...

Recorrido, 2008, coloured pencil & holes on paper, 29x23cm

Honeymoon in Japan...

The other day in my inbox I received a zipped file full of images of Tokyo and Kyoto from my brother. He is on honeymoon in Japan. As a little tribute to them both I include four images here; a fish market, a restaurant, a bar...what looks like a back street. They fly back to London on Sunday...safe trip!

In process...esta tarde

New website

The new website is finally up and running. Not radically different, but I feel it is more functional and easier to navigate. Have a look:

www.patrickmichaelfitzgerald.net