Patricia Chidlaw Art
American
Painter and art critic Wyndam Lewis wrote “Art is the expression of an enormous preference.” We gravitate to the visual based on what appeals to us deep in our souls. That preference is such a personal and complicated response to countless factors - and not something easy to quantify.
Patricia Chidlaw’s preferences - what she find visually engaging and beautiful - have stayed remarkably consistent over her forty years of painting. The morning light on the stark pavement of the L.A. River still takes her breath away. She is drawn to those older parts of cities - the forgotten alleys and underpasses. And yet these very spaces she finds so compelling are vanishing at an ever increasing speed as cities evolve and modernize.
When asked what kind of paintings she makes, Chidlaw describes them as "urban landscapes” but her subjects are certainly not all urban – some are suburban, some are rural small towns, and some are ruins, such as a faded sign and abandoned business bleaching in the desert sun as once populated areas return to their former empty silence. While she often depicts older architectural forms, it is clear that these are not paintings about nostalgia – they are all contemporary scenes, recently observed.
Chidlaw is endlessly attracted to light - to the changing light of the morning and evening, to how shadows play over Los Angeles, to the subtle shades of color in the sky and how that playings over clouds. And while natural light is a huge influence, Chidlaw is deeply drawn to the concrete and steel of the constructed world.
Chidlaw writes of her explorations for this new series, “I have had a few recent visual surprises - who knew swimming pools would become illuminated with L.E.D. lights, that can segue through the entire color spectrum. In these places I have chosen, I think the attraction goes beyond the particulars of of patterns of light and dark and color to the emotions these places evoke for me.”
When an artist chooses to make a painting of a particular place, the message is “I find this to be important” and in depicting that space, guides the viewer to find what the artist herself is so drawn to. Chidlaw encourages us to take a second look at the spaces we so often drive past - to stop and revel in the angles of bridges, the shadows falling across a cityscape, the vistas framed by unexpectedly elegant power lines - to take that moment and find the hidden beauty of these urban landscapes.
Patricia Chidlaw received her BA from the University of California, Santa Barbara and has exhibited extensively on the West Coast and at numerous art fairs throughout the US. In 2014, she was the subject of a solo exhibition, Realm of the Commonplace - Paintings by Patricia Chidlaw, at the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno, NV. Her work appears in many private collections and has been featured in THE Magazine, ArtScene, Southwest Art, Artweek, and on KCET.(Biography provided by George Billis Gallery)
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Artist: Patricia Chidlaw
Golden Nugget, Las Vegas
By Patricia Chidlaw
Located in Fairfield, CT
Represented by George Billis Gallery, NYC & LA -- "When asked what kind of paintings I make, I usually call my work "Urban Landscapes" to distinguish them as paintings about areas o...
Category
2010s American Realist Patricia Chidlaw Art
Materials
Linen, Oil
Midnight Swim
By Patricia Chidlaw
Located in Fairfield, CT
"When asked what kind of paintings I make, I usually call my work "Urban Landscapes" to distinguish them as paintings about areas of human habitation rather than landscapes that re...
Category
2010s American Realist Patricia Chidlaw Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Graffiti and Tank Car
By Patricia Chidlaw
Located in Fairfield, CT
Represented by George Billis Gallery, NYC & LA -- "When asked what kind of paintings I make, I usually call my work "Urban Landscapes" to distinguish them as paintings about areas o...
Category
2010s American Realist Patricia Chidlaw Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Dollar Car Wash
By Patricia Chidlaw
Located in Fairfield, CT
Represented by George Billis Gallery, NYC & LA -- "When asked what kind of paintings I make, I usually call my work "Urban Landscapes" to distinguish them as paintings about areas o...
Category
2010s American Realist Patricia Chidlaw Art
Materials
Linen, Oil
Empty Pool
By Patricia Chidlaw
Located in Fairfield, CT
Represented by George Billis Gallery, NYC & LA -- "When asked what kind of paintings I make, I usually call my work "Urban Landscapes" to distinguish them as paintings about areas o...
Category
2010s American Realist Patricia Chidlaw Art
Materials
Oil, Canvas
View from Vista Dome
By Patricia Chidlaw
Located in Fairfield, CT
Represented by George Billis Gallery, NYC & LA -- "When asked what kind of paintings I make, I usually call my work "Urban Landscapes" to distinguish them as paintings about areas o...
Category
2010s American Realist Patricia Chidlaw Art
Materials
Linen, Oil
Cinema
By Patricia Chidlaw
Located in Fairfield, CT
Represented by George Billis Gallery, NYC & LA --When asked what kind of paintings I make, I usually call my work "Urban Landscapes" to distinguish them as paintings about areas of human habitation rather than landscapes that reference the natural world. But my subjects are certainly not all urban – some are suburban, some small towns and some are ruins, such as a faded sign and abandoned business bleaching in the desert sun as once populated areas return to their former empty silence. While I often treat older architectural forms, I want to make it clear these are not paintings about nostalgia – all are contemporary scenes, recently observed. Currently I've painted a number of pictures which seem neither urban nor rural but are set in that particular non-space that now covers so much of the landscape – the limbo of freeway exits and on-ramps and their attendant fast-food franchises.
What I feel these mostly unpopulated places I choose to paint have in common is a potency, some kind of emotional charge that enables them to function as settings for a subjective fictional narrative. As the artist I choose and edit the scenes, setting the stage for viewers to bring their imaginations and private meanings to these places made special by my selection and attention."
Notes: Urban, Rural, Movies, Theatre...
Category
2010s American Realist Patricia Chidlaw Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
View from the Train, L.A. River
By Patricia Chidlaw
Located in Fairfield, CT
Represented by George Billis Gallery, NYC & LA --When asked what kind of paintings I make, I usually call my work "Urban Landscapes" to distinguish them as paintings about areas of h...
Category
2010s American Realist Patricia Chidlaw Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Freight Train in Shadow
By Patricia Chidlaw
Located in Fairfield, CT
Represented by George Billis Gallery, NYC & LA -- Chidlaw is an American realist seeking, and finding, profundity in the realm of the commonplace. She takes aims at dignity and a dur...
Category
2010s American Realist Patricia Chidlaw Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
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Patricia Chidlaw art for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Patricia Chidlaw art available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of art to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of blue and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Patricia Chidlaw in fabric, oil paint, paint and more. Not every interior allows for large Patricia Chidlaw art, so small editions measuring 20 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Eleanor Parke Custis, Harry Lane, and Kate Sammons. Patricia Chidlaw art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at £4,487 and tops out at £8,013, while the average work can sell for £6,250.