Patrick Fatica blends Tim Burton and Bottocelli in his oil paintings. Here’s a look at one of his works.
Occupation: Fine artist, curator
Neighborhood: Butcher’s Hill
Work: “In Your Heart There’s a Spark That Just Screams” by Patrick Fatica at the Tag Gallery on Broadway
Why: Without ever having known the intangibles — the meaning, the narrative, the inspiration — I was drawn to his work. Within the cluster of Giclees being claimed by Fatica was a piece I found particularly striking. It was a portrait of a woman — all his subjects are female. But this one was a woman that I felt like I knew. Her cigarette points skyward in a gesture that only exaggerates her rehearsed lack of interest. The muted and sullen palette tells its own sad story while forcing the woman’s wild, blond, sinewy hair to forefront. The meticulously rendered highlights following the curvature of her face sink her eyes deep into their cavities, thickening the plot surrounding this brooding beauty.
Her sweatshirt fades seamlessly into nothingness slightly below her elongated neck. While every piece in the collection is accompanied by a visceral and well-written narrative, I felt the pieces more than sufficed in conjuring appropriate emotional responses. The more I examined the work, the more I appreciated the manipulation of the paint and mastery of the medium. There’s an overwhelming perfection associated with all of Patrick’s work.
Fatica’s originals are oil on board and appear to all be part of various personal collections. However, the prints, which I took in firsthand, are exceptional reproductions that I can only imagine do his work justice. If I had to sum up Patrick Fatica’s work, based only on my own interpretation, I might say this: It’s a little pop culture mixed with fantasy illustration mixed with more traditional portraiture.
It’s a sublime blend of Tim Burton and Bottocelli … and certainly worth checking out.
