The Tony Fitzpatrick Show

Over the weekend I went to the Tony Fitzpatrick Show at The Billy Shire Gallery in Culver City. This gallery is fast becoming my favorite gallery in Los Angeles because the shows are almost always consistently strong shows. It's a beautiful space to see work in because it can accommodate a big crowd during a busy opening reception and you can step back from large pieces and soak it all up. I nearly had an orgasm at the Dave Cooper Show there because he had all these sumptuous ginormous paintings of voluptuous women and you could really appreciate each piece without feeling that you had to keep moving out of the way of another patron.

Which brings me to the most recent show. I've only had the pleasure of seeing one or 2 works by Tony Fitzpatrick in person prior to going to this show and it was a real treat. His work was almost all of the same dimensions and his use of collage is incredible to scrutinze. He uses lots of common symbols and metaphors and nostaligic stencils and drawings in each piece. There's a lot going on in every single work. His colors are a very limited palette and used with a military precision. It reminds me of how some singers like a "Billy Holiday" for example are these great American singers and have a range of about 4 notes, yet their emotional range is as deep as the ocean. Tony Fitzpatrick's work is like that. He works within these very specific parameters, but it's very satisfying. You know what you're going to get yet it's still gratifying to see each and every piece.

Check out some of the pics in this blog from the show. I have a couple of the space itself there at Billy Shire Gallery. See if you can spot Tony in conversation with actor Jeff Garlin from "Curb your Enthusisam" in 2 of the photos.