Patrick Schmidt, M.F.A.

Patrick Schmidt is a Professor of Art at Washington & Jefferson College. His exhibition record includes solo and group shows in Kansas City, St. Paul, Florence/Cosenza Italy, Orquevaux, France, Santa Monica, Washington D.C., London, UK and New York City. His paintings have been featured in New American Paintings and can be found in several corporate and private collections throughout the U.S. and Europe. He has attended residencies in France at the Chateau Orquevaux https://www.chateauorquevaux.com/ , and in Italy at the Box of Contemporary Space in Cosenza, and at the Ora Lerman Souring Gardens https://www.lermantrust.org/soaringgardens/ to name a few. His work is represented by the Todd Weiner Gallery in Kansas City, MO http://www.toddweinergallery.com/artists#/gina-adams-1  and at the Baker-Howard Contemporary in London https://bakerhowardcontemporary.co.uk/product-category/artists/patrick-schmidt/. In addition to his art practice Patrick is a certified Yoga instructor and an avid cyclist.  He lives in Pittsburgh with his wife (a used book shop owner https://citybookspgh.com/) and their dog Ms. Moneypenny. He enjoys playing the cello, listens to “New Music,” and loves to cook.

He began at W&J in the fall of 2002 and he teaches all levels of painting, drawing, two and three-dimensional design, and has taught graphic design, printmaking, screen-printing and digital imaging. His extracurricular teaching activities include taking students regularly to Pittsburgh, New York City and Washington, D.C. on art-related trips. He has also led student travel trips to Italy, Spain, Eastern Europe (Budapest, Hungary; Vienna, Austria; Krakow, Poland; and Prague, Czech Republic) Paris, France and Berlin, Germany.

His research centers around color and its relationship to shape and pattern. He believes in the timeless power of color, color is cold, it’s passionate, it rubs us the wrong way, it tells/shows us who we are. Color is political, logical, and scientific and manipulates our perception of space and depth. Color is aggressive, angry, and moody, it’s depressive and elusive. It gives us joy, color is arresting and ugly, it comforts us, and defines us. Similarly, patterns identify us, lets us know our history, and speaks to our prejudices. Patterns are groovy, ridged, straight forward and matter of fact.

He describes his paintings, drawings, and drawing installations as hardedge color fields with a digital sensibility that explores the language of geometric abstraction. He is influenced by Op Art, and has worked with abstract shapes and forms to confront the world around him.

Using stencils and wallpaper to develop his early compositions. Now, compositions originate from digital design process, He layers found patterns over one another in order to transform unique imagery into complex universal symbolism. His use of color is aggressive, frenzied and political, while the groovy, ridged patterns challenge our aesthetic prejudices. Optical transparency and mathematical geometry demand focus—yet require distraction at the same time. His work is a balance of harmony and chaos. A mirror of our times, it shows us who we are. For more information, see www.patrickschmidtstudio.com