Patrick DeAngelis

American b. 1980

Bio

Patrick DeAngelis is an oil painter based in Southern California. His work explores light and color harmonies within vast atmospheric spaces. Born and raised in Northeast Ohio, DeAngelis studied painting under artist Fredrick Graff and earned an MFA at the New York Academy of Art in 2006. His early works, composed on large birch panels explore hazy mountain vistas revealed though thin oil glazes. In these early works, the viewer enters a vast color-field landscape painted to evoke a sense of stillness, calm and wonder.

Searching for new inspiration and an opportunity to mature his style, DeAngelis relocated to Southern California in 2019. The drive west made an immediate impression as the desert and ocean become leading subjects to explore light, color and space. From this relocation, a new palette emerged, along with a further step toward abstraction and additional sensitivity to light and color. His most recent work strips the landscape of shape, line, and texture, formal elements that help articulate representational identity, in turn revealing only color, tone, and a singular suggestive line. The intention is to create a purely visceral sensation, slightly detached from cognitive recognition and simple identification.

DeAngelis currently lives and works in San Diego, CA. 

Artist Statement

Southern California is home to a luminous visual field, a vast and expansive landscape defined by its oceans, deserts and mountain skies. Between the margins of these geographic landmarks lies the most subtle and distinct feature, the interaction of light, moisture, air and space. As a painter I aim to capture the visual sensation of this environment in a collection of paintings that exist somewhere between representation and abstraction. Painting provides a powerful tool to examine the light and study the transitions and translucent effects. Painting allows me to be an inventor of an imaginary landscape within each piece. 

I’m exploring the relationship between color and music. In music, a chord is when multiple notes are heard simultaneously. In painting (at least in my opinion), a chord is when multiple colors are seen simultaneously, which is possible by overlapping transparent colors. The resulting mixture, similar to the resulting sound, achieves a depth and resonance that is uniquely different from opaque paint applications. In addition the chord can be quite harmonious when arranged correctly. My paintings are composed of simple chord progressions arranged vertically and horizontally.