Artist CV
About
Studied: UC Davis, B.A., Claremont College, M.F.A.
Currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California
“The key value of abstraction to me is its openness. The best abstraction isn’t didactic, it’s experiential.” – Patrick Wilson
The palettes of Wilson’s paintings are lush and the shadows created within the artist’s hard edge compositions are complex. Some planes reveal darker under-painting here and there through a gel medium that suspends the over-color in a kind of glaze. The planes with these shadow glazes have a smooth thickness that advances from the surface of the canvas, as though the paint was squeezed on while the rest of the canvas was masked off. Thus the “push-pull” effect of Wilson’s planes advancing and receding is literalized actual relief. Aesthetic beauty and visual pleasure are Wilson’s primary concerns. Using drywall tools, paint rollers, and masking tape, Wilson layers lines, squares, and rectangles in meticulously balanced compositions that, with the use of vivid color, evoke a palpable sense of light. Despite Wilson’s assiduous process, he also works intuitively, responding to his compositions as they evolve.
Wilson’s work is included in many public and private collections including the Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH; Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; the Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA; and the San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA.