Fifth Ave 2014

Curator: Pietropoli Patrick’s 2014 painting, "Fifth Ave," presents a striking, photorealistic rendering of urban architecture, caught in the flux of daily life. What strikes you about it right away? Editor: It’s heavy, dense, and strangely muted. Like looking through several layers of memory, or trying to grasp something immense through a thick fog. The architecture dominates everything – people, traffic, the whole shebang. It feels oppressive almost. Curator: Oppressive? I find it melancholic. There’s a wistful beauty in the way the city's immensity dwarfs us, in its reflection, fractured across the mirrored surfaces of those modern buildings. Do you see the brushstrokes though? It feels both hyper-realistic and clearly hand-painted. Editor: The tension between representation and what is really there feels key. Look at the layers here, of reflections, buildings, the flow of foot and auto traffic – all signs of labor and capitalist exchange. This material reality gets broken up by that reflecting building. It speaks to the constructed nature of our urban environments. I wonder what acrylic primers he uses. Curator: Ah, yes, a fascination with the 'how' of its creation. For me, it stirs a different question. Are we reflecting the city or is the city reflecting us? It’s a hall of mirrors, and in Patrick’s hands, becomes this poignant commentary on modern existence, the alienation, and the constant hustle. Editor: The medium reinforces that reading, it seems the choice of acrylics over oil-based paints is telling. They tend to create flat matte effects, perfect for replicating concrete and glass on canvas, but lacking richness and longevity. Are we also constructing ourselves to be equally "flat"? Curator: Perhaps. And speaking of constructing ourselves… that's almost the perfect metaphor for existing on Fifth Avenue, isn't it? An elaborate performance of consumerism set against a backdrop of architectural prowess. What’s funny to me is it still holds some degree of optimism; there is the movement of life happening at the street level. Editor: Right, which Patrick so effectively portrays in these layered and detailed painting surfaces and techniques, offering an ambiguous portrait of ourselves that invites deeper reflection. Thank you!