PRESS RELEASE
Tommy Fitzpatrick: Crystal Cities
Sep 9 – Nov 4, 2017
Holly Johnson Gallery in Dallas is pleased to announce the opening of, Crystal Cities: New Paintings and Sculptures by Tommy Fitzpatrick. This exhibition marks the artist's fourth solo show at the gallery. An opening reception for the artist will be held Saturday, September 9, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. The exhibition continues through November 4.
Architecture has been the subject of Fitzpatrick’s paintings for the past twenty years. The current exhibition, Crystal Cities is inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1940 project of the same name set for a Washington D.C suburb that was never built. This unrealized project, bold in scale and breathtaking in its aesthetic vision inspired Fitzpatrick to create this new body of work.
Since 2013, Fitzpatrick has been creating sculptural motifs in the studio that stand in for architecture in his paintings. These new assemblages resembling ruins are constructed from transparent plastics that can be arranged and rearranged. Based on ideas set forth by the Russian constructivists, Fitzpatrick describes his sculptures as a fallen utopia of modern materials. The new paintings are in still life format - a way for the artist to push his postmodern sculptures into a traditional format of illusionistic space. The new works in Crystal Cities, while representing our past also point to the future.
Fitzpatrick has shown in numerous exhibitions in cities such as; Houston, Madrid, New York, London, Dallas, Berlin, and Seoul. An exhibition catalogue was published for his Seoul show titled City Faces in 2009. Also that same year he participated in Geometry in Reflection with Margo Sawyer at the University of Texas at Arlington. Christina Rees, currently editor-in-chief of Glasstire, noted in the catalogue, “Fitzpatrick exposes the science-fiction element of modern architecture, to be sure, one that evokes Orwellian totalitarianism or Philip K. Dick, as well as the bloodless unregulated capitalism that’s led to our current economic crisis…”
His work was also documented in catalogues for Bridge, a 2006 solo show in Berlin, and Object Lessons, a seven year survey of Fitzpatrick’s work curated by Clint Willour of the Galveston Arts Center that traveled to Texas A&M in Commerce and The Arlington Museum of Art.
Born in Dallas in 1969, Fitzpatrick received a B.A. in Fine Art from the University of Texas in Austin in 1991, followed by an M.F.A. from Yale University School of Art in 1993. His paintings are in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Modern Art Museum, Fort Worth; the Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi; and the Menil Collection, Houston. He is currently an Associate Professor of painting at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas and resides in New Braunfels.
Holly Johnson Gallery is located at 1845 Levee Street #100 in Dallas. Gallery hours are 11 to 5, Tuesday – Saturday. For information call 214-369-0169, or email info@hollyjohnsongallery.com, or visit www.hollyjohnsongallery.com.