ARTIST STATEMENT

  Painter and art critic Wyndam Lewis wrote “Art is the expression of an enormous preference.” It seems a preference isn’t something you need to explain or justify. We just love what we love. My preference’s - what I find visually engaging and beautiful, have stayed remarkably stable over my forty years of painting. The morning light on the stark pavement of the L.A. River still takes my breath away. I remain interested in those older parts of cities even as I realize that they are vanishing at ever increasing speed. 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. When an artist chooses to make a painting of a particular place, the message to the viewer is “I find this to be important”. 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.

In my previous statement I wrote that my paintings “set the stage for viewers to bring their imaginations and private meanings, made special by my selection and attention.  Two years ago a group of Santa Barbara poets composed poems inspired by my paintings. The poems and artwork were published in a book titled: “Elsewhere Paradise”.  I was profoundly honored and delighted that these talented artists would use my work as a point of departure.  They responded to my preferences with ideas and obsessions of their own. I have titled this show “Darkness, Dawn”.  It is a show of mostly nocturnes with a few sunrises.  The year 2020 has indeed been a dark year, but I hope now in 2021 we are in an emerging dawn. 

BIOGRAPHY

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. She lives and works in Santa Barbara.  

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RESUME

BORN 
1951, San Francisco, CA

EDUCATION 
University of California Santa Barbara, BA 1973

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2021    Darkness. Dawn, George Billis Gallery Los Angeles, CA
2020    Elsewhere, Paradise, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2018    The Moving Picture Show, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2016    Departures, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2014    Uncommon, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
            Realm of the Commonplace - Paintings by Patricia Chidlaw, Nevada Museum of Art, NV 2009    On the Road, Terrence Rogers Fine Art, Santa Monica, CA
2008    Everything Must Go, Terrence Rogers Fine Art, Santa Monica, CA
2007    Everything Becomes Electric, Terrence Rogers Fine Art, Santa Monica, CA
2006    Time and Again, Terrence Rogers Fine Art, Santa Monica, CA
            New Spin, Terrence Rogers Fine Art, Santa Monica, CA
2005    On Blue Highways, Terrence Rogers Fine Art, Santa Monica, CA
2004    Easton Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
2003    Once/Again, Terrence Rogers Fine Art, Santa Monica, CA
2003    Terrence Rogers Fine Art, Santa Monica, CA
2002    Easton Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
2001    Santa Barbara Natural History Museum, Santa Barbara, CA
            Terrence Rogers Fine Art, Santa Monica, CA
2000    Easton Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
            Paintings by Patricia, Terrence Rogers Fine Art, Santa Monica, CA
1998    Vanishing Points, Joyce Robins Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
            Roadshow, Easton Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
1997    Vanishing Points on the American Highway, Tatistcheff/Rogers, Santa Monica, CA
            Long Distance, Bakersfield College Art Gallery, Bakersfield, CA
1996    Easton Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
1994    The Urban Landscape, The Waterhouse Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
            Recent Paintings, The Waterhouse Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
1993    Standard Time, The Waterhouse Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
            Daylight Savings, The Waterhouse Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
1992    Vanishing Points, The Waterhouse Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
            Painting the Town, The Waterhouse Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
1991    A Certain Light, The Waterhouse Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
            City Lights, The Waterhouse Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
1987    Faulkner Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
1984    Santa Barbara Portrait, Faulkner Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2020    The Cityscape Show X, George Billis Gallery LA, Los Angeles, CA    
2019    The Cityscape Show IX, George Billis Gallery LA, Los Angeles, CA
            Masterworks, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2018    The Cityscape Show VIII, George Billis Gallery LA, Los Angeles, CA
2017    The Cityscape Show VII, George Billis Gallery LA, Los Angeles, CA
            Masterworks, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2016    The Cityscape Show VI, George Billis Gallery LA, Los Angeles, CA
2015    The Cityscape Show V, George Billis Gallery LA, Los Angeles, CA
2014    The Cityscape Show IV, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2013   The Cityscape Show III, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
           Palms Springs Art Fair, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2012   The Cityscape Show II, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
            San Francisco Art Fair, Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
            Featured Artist, Lotusland Benefit, Santa Barbara, Ca
2011    The Cityscape Show, George Billis Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
            Five at Eleven, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
            San Diego Art Fair, Koplin del Rio Gallery, San Diego, CA
            Cityscapes, Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
            Small Works, Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2010    Urban Light, Marcia Burtt Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
2007    Stilllife Show, Reynolds Gallery, Westmont College, Santa Barbara, CA
            The Urban Myth, Sullivan Goss Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
            Oak Group Show, Palm Loft Gallery, Carpenteria, CA
            Westmont Still Show, Santa Barbara, CA
2006    Urban California, California Art Club, Pasadena, CA
2005    Trains and Trees, Terrence Rogers Fine Art, Santa Monica, CA
2004    Windows: 4 Views, Terrence Rogers Fine Art, Santa Monica, CA
            The Political Landscape, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2003    Santa Barbara After Dark, Fielding Graduate Institute, Santa Barbara, CA
2002    Painting the Santa Clara Valley, Ventura County Museum of Art, Ventura, CA
2001    Chinatown, California Art Club at Hong Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2000    In the Eye of the Beholder, Terrence Rogeres Fine Art, Santa Monica, CA
1999    California Style - Contemporary Urban Scene, CA Heritage Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1997    Two-Person Exhibition, Reynolds Gallery, Westmont College, Santa Barbara, CA
1996    After Midnight, Tatistcheff/Rogers, Santa Monica, CA
1996    Summer in Paradise, Easton Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
1988    Four Californians Working for Life, Arpel Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
1984    Landscapes, The Art Corner Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
1981    Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Santa Barbara, CA
            Inner Light, Cabrillo Arts Center, Santa Barbara, CA
1980    7 from Santa Barbara, Cabrillo Arts Center, Santa Barbara, CA
1979    Arts Festival Invitational Exhibition, Santa Barbara Natural History Museum, CA

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