Tony Fitzpatrick

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Tony Fitzpatrick (born 1958) is an American artist born and based in Chicago.

Fitzpatrick begin seriously drawing with pastels on slate board in a store front in the town of Villa Park, Illinois. He worked by day and bartended at the bar across the street, at night, in the early 1980s. During that time, he developed separate friendships with Chicago radio personality and bluesman Buzz Kilman and film director Jonathan Demme. Demme and Kilman are longtime friends, and the three became close. As a result, Tony has starred in a few of Demme's films and other films as well. During the late 1980s, he begin getting gallery shows in Chicago and New York City, establishing connections that would lead him to be a successful working artist who has sold paintings to several film directors, among others. Tony is also an accomplished poet and has published several books of his art and poetry, including The Hard Angels and The Neighborhood. Sports often figures into his art and poetry, but he also gains inspiration from the city of Chicago, and the underbelly of society. Tony in his past has been a boxer, bouncer, and bartender.

[edit] Work

Fitzpatrick's art typically blends cartoon-like drawings and found images such as baseball cards and matchbooks with poetic or narrative description. His main subjects have been Chicago and memories of his father. A perfect example is the series "Nickel History." The series consists of ten tiny works, each containing a narrative. Fellow Chicago artist Ed Paschke, describes his work as "autobiographical," saying that "it's in the true spirit of what art is all about. It is an extension of him."

Tony Fitzpatrick's works are in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami. Among his works are the drawings which make up the brief chapbook "Bum Town", and a continuing series of drawings/collages with poetry, "The Wonder: Tales of the City". He had his own spot on a Chicago radio station for eight years and books of poems with artworks published.

Fitzpatrick has done cover art for numerous albums, such as the Neville Brothers "Yellow Moon" album (nominated for Diamond Award, Best Album Cover), Lou Reed's "Big Cat", both albums by The Captain Howdy, and all of Steve Earle's solo albums since 1996's I Feel Alright.

He won a Jefferson Award for portraying the murderer James Huberty in the play he also scripted, Mass Murderer. He also had roles in the movies Philadelphia, Primal Fear, Married to the Mob and others.

[edit] External links

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