Patrick Garner

Artist Statement

Much of my art is ritualistic — abstract warping of shapes that begin in chaos and are finished only when I uncover (or discover) order from disorder. Since I was very young I have been driven by this struggle to find beauty in darkness, balance and symmetry in imbalance.

The ancient Greeks described beauty as terror. When I was 15 I painted a large 16th century-inspired crucifixion on a wood panel, then slowly deconstructed it using a blow torch. The "destroyed" image, largely unrecognizable, became for me far more powerful than the original. The blow torch had made it totemic, savage … For me that moment of overt destruction became an insight into the heart of creativity.

I think of this process as birthing enchantment. At its best art is the re-enchantment — the inexplicable insight — of an ancient iconography used by all artists. The process, if it is honest, is always a matter of wresting beauty from chaos.

Artist Biography

A painter with a degree in Visual Arts, Garner has exhibited extensively. His work is in the collections of several universities, and in private collections from Los Angles and NYC, to Lithuania, Greece, Atlanta and Boston. He exhibited etchings in the show Places at the DeCordova Museum, as well as a show in Mykonos, Greece.

Garner exhibited regularly at the Heath Gallery, Atlanta, GA. Shows include the juried Viridian Artists 16th National Juried Exhibition in Chelsea, NY, juried shows at the Center for Contemporary Printmaking in Norwalk, CT, and at the Fallbrook Arts Center in San Diego, CA. Two of his papier collé works were exhibited at the Pendle Print Biennial in Lancashire, England.

He has worked out of his New England studio for the last decade on a series of images combining painting, photography, watercolor, gouache and etching.

Garner is also the author of The Naxos Quartet, four best-selling novels about ancient Greek gods in the contemporary world. His breakout podcast, Garner’s Greek Mythology, has listeners in 166 countries (see www.patrickgarnerbooks.com).

Artist Resume

Bachelor of Visual Arts, Drawing and Painting, Georgia State University, Atlanta. Intaglio workshops at the Museum School, DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA. Multiple post-graduate workshops with Dan Welden, Ron Pokrasso and others.