Tommy Fitzpatrick

For the past twenty years, color, space, and architecture have been primary sources of inspiration for Fitzpatrick’s paintings. In 2013, he began creating sculptural assemblages in the studio that were stand-ins for the architecture. Most recently, Fitzpatrick is using computer-aided design (CAD) programs as the blueprint for the painted imagery. Because of this digitally dominant process, he is now leaving more evidence of the hand, by adding texture, and thickness of paint on the surface in addition to his hard-edge techniques. By combining digital and analog processes, Fitzpatrick is creating work that instigates a conversation between what it is and how it is made. This new approach to painting makes the meticulously painted geometric shapes appear as if it were hovering atop the canvas.

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, catalogue essay by Christina Rees. 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 collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, the Art Museum of South Texas in Corpus Christi, and the Menil Collection in Houston. He is currently an Associate Professor of painting at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. He resides in New Braunfels, Texas.