A gay man working in 1980s New York, American painter Patrick Angus (1953–92) is currently being rediscovered and celebrated internationally. The stark drama of his explicit themes, the exactitude of his observations juxtaposed against the iridescence of his coloration. New York’s ‘80s gay demimonde is the abiding subject of these paintings, which also more broadly reflect a longing for love, friendship and acceptance. Angus worked at a time when minimalism and abstraction were the dominant styles and figuration was disdained as reactionary; now it is clear he was more inventive than most of his peers, and can be seen as a leading postmodernist. Painting was the passion of Patrick Angus’ short life. A victim of the AIDS plague, his hope was that his work would survive him. This posthumous homage to a great artist grants his wish, ensuring his place in the pantheon.
"Bottom of the Ninth" (1989) is reproduced from 'Patrick Angus: Painting and Drawings.'
"J.B. in Drag (Standing)" (1988) is reproduced from Patrick Angus: Painting and Drawings, Hatje Cantz's substantial recent monograph on Angus, who died in 1992 having suffered from AIDS. Essayist Douglas Blair Turnbaugh writes, "I am afraid that Angus, rejected at the time by the art market, had been tricked by his huge talent and his tremendous art culture; his constant desire to be always excellent, never giving up the dream of a great style or the mirage of formal perfection—this can be called conservatism only by a blind or superficial viewer. On the contrary: this is the proof of his original faith in painting, untouched by those hesitations or false consciousness that drew so many artists to paint badly in order to justify painting again. Angus is a true, totally conscious postmodernist painter, and yet he is a difficult one, concerned with researching his personal language with authentic irony and no need of special or rhetorical effects. His voice is constantly high, clear, elegant, and unique." continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 12 x 10.75 in. / 192 pgs / 110 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $70.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $92.5 ISBN: 9783775741804 PUBLISHER: Hatje Cantz AVAILABLE: 10/25/2016 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Out of stock indefinitely AVAILABILITY: Not available TERRITORY: NA LA
Published by Hatje Cantz. Texts by Douglas Blair Turnbaugh, Mark Gisbourne.
A gay man working in 1980s New York, American painter Patrick Angus (1953–92) is currently being rediscovered and celebrated internationally. The stark drama of his explicit themes, the exactitude of his observations juxtaposed against the iridescence of his coloration. New York’s ‘80s gay demimonde is the abiding subject of these paintings, which also more broadly reflect a longing for love, friendship and acceptance. Angus worked at a time when minimalism and abstraction were the dominant styles and figuration was disdained as reactionary; now it is clear he was more inventive than most of his peers, and can be seen as a leading postmodernist. Painting was the passion of Patrick Angus’ short life. A victim of the AIDS plague, his hope was that his work would survive him. This posthumous homage to a great artist grants his wish, ensuring his place in the pantheon.
