Virgie Ezelle PattonTime Squared

Virgie Ezelle PattonTime Squared

Apr 26–Jun 1, 2013 William Busta Gallery2731 Prospect AvenueCleveland OH 44115

W williambustagallery.comT 216.298.9071E bustagallery@gmail.com

Cover:

Two Women, 1996

oil on canvas,

51.5 x 36 in.

Above:

Virgie and Cleve, 2002

oil on canvas,

36 x 45 in.

Right:

Untitled, 1993

charcoal and chalk,

26 x 19 in.

Far right:

Untitled, 1993

charcoal on paper,

25.5 x 19.5 in.

Virgie Ezelle Patton’s

work is being supported

by a Creative Workforce

Fellowship funded by

the Community Partnership

for Arts and Culture

Virgie Ezelle Patton

Above:

Julie and Cats, 2002

oil on canvas,

72 x 42 in.

One of the definitions of the word perfection is “an instance of excellence.” This is what Virgie Patton has been after all these years. Not the idea of perfection as measured by the standard of others but that which she has defined for herself. Her journey in pursuit of perfection has driven her to persevere, and her practice continues after several decades of making. She is always pushing herself beyond. Always investigating, always studying, always striving to get it just right.

The path she has traveled has not been easy, but for her it has been necessary. Virgie Patton has never had enough time, enough space, obedient painting subjects, deep-pocketed sponsors, or a life unencumbered that would be conducive to the artistic process. She has never had the circumstances that one would consider essential to create work of the caliber she consistently produces. Virgie Patton is a masterful creator whose work is a celebration of beauty, balance, material, color, line and stroke. She doesn’t always consciously choose what to create, there is more a symbiosis with her ideas and the process of creation leaving her work as evidence that such an event has taken place.

What is further astonishing is the person that takes shape, when viewed in the context of a timeline of American society’s evolving ideologies of gender, ethnicity, and class. The person we see is someone who has made her own way, determined her own value, and resolutely decided to assert her artistic perspective. I have often marveled at the enigma that is Virgie Patton. At times wondering, how she could make art while having to transcend prejudice and underestimation as an artist who happens to be both a woman and of African decent. During times when it has been less than fashionable to be either, she has the added complication of being someone’s wife and mother. What I have come to realize is that stripped of all other labels, creator would remain. It has never really been a choice for Virgie to make art, her life is a creative continuum. The creator is her true self, the lens through which everything is viewed, it is how she negotiates the world around her. Work has never been separate from life though each inspires the other. She captures images of people and scenes at hand, renders what catches her eye, and pins down ideas that won’t leave her mind until translated into visual form—her eye constantly searching to satisfy her hand’s desire to venture across a canvas. Perfection just within reach.

Shannon Hill-Sanchez

Virgie Patton has been an important Cleveland artist for decades, and yet her work has not been shown nearly enough. She is regularly included in group exhibitions, but one-person exhibitions have been far between. Still, she has worked steadfastly and with focus on painting and drawing the human figure and on portraiture in particular. We’ve selected work for this exhibition that shows her remarkable drawing skills, her frequent focus on her family as subject matter and the ambitious scale of much of her work. Also included are many panels from the recent and on-going project “Time Squared” which is a look back at a lifetime devoted to the arts.

It has been my pleasure to assist in organizing this exhibition.

Don Harvey

Education Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, OH

Selected Exhibitions2013 Time Squared, solo exhibition, William Busta Gallery,

Cleveland, OH 2009 Each in their Own Voice, exhibition, panel discussion,

Cleveland State University Art Gallery, OH 2008 Mural, Western Reserve Historical Society,

Cleveland, OH2007 Collectors Choice, Cleveland Artists Foundaiton,

Cleveland. OH2006 The Peoples Art Show, Cleveland State University Art

Gallery, OH (also 2004)2003 Installation, Cleveland State University Art Gallery, OH Visceral Visuals, Warren Smith Gallery, Dobama

Theatre, Cleveland Heights, OH2002 Figure It Out: 11th Annual Women’s Invitational, solo

exhibition, Florence O’ Donnell Wasmer Gallery, Ursuline College, Pepper Pike, OH

Ohio Perspectives: Contemporary African American Artists, Akron Art Museum, Akron, OH

The Darkest Sisters: Visions and Stories, Mather Gallery, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH

2001 Searching for Mai Muse, solo exhibition, Beck Center for the Arts, Lakewood, OH

1999 Drawn Together: Annual National Alumni Exhibition, Reinberger Gallery, Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, OH

2nd Annual Women’s Art Exhibition, Cleveland State University Art Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio,

1998 Gone Painting, Cleveland Artists Foundation, Beck Center for the Arts, Lakewood, OH

1997 Yet Still We Rise: African-American Art in Cleveland, Riffe Gallery, Columbus, OH; Butler Museum of American Art, Youngstown, OH

1996 Yet Still We Rise: African-American Art in Cleveland, Cleveland State University Art Gallery, OH

1995 Watercolor Exhibition, (Cleveland Artists Foundation) Botanical Garden Center Art Gallery, Cleveland, OH

1994 Wildflower Portraits, Wildflower Art Gallery, Cleveland, OH

1993 In Plain View, Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art, Cleveland, OH

1992 Four Views, Cuyahoga Community College (Western Campus), Cleveland, OH

Virgie Ezelle Patton

Born 1928, Cleveland, OH Resides in South Euclid, OH

1991 Surmounting Fences, Cleveland State University Art Gallery, Cleveland, OH

Five Artists, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

A Perspective of Two Generations, Mather Gallery, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH

1990 Atrium Gallery, National City Bank Cleveland, OH

Selected Honors and Awards2012 Dennis Kucinich Congressional

for contributions to Cuyahoga Community Arts

2005 Honorary Painting Degree Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, OH

1998 Best New Work and Best In Show [Catherine & Lee Chilcote Foundation Award], Cleveland Institute of Art, exhibition, Cleveland, OH

Selected Professional Experience1991– Consultant, Art Advisory Board,

Visiting Artist, Cleveland School of the Arts, OH

1997–98 Art Teacher, Neighborhood Centers Association (Woodhill Center), Cleveland, OH

1995–97 Art Instructor, Young Audiences of Greater Cleveland, OH

1995 Costume Design, “South Pacific” (musical production), East Cleveland Theatre, Cleveland, OH

1992 Costume and Set Design, “Starshine” (musical production), Dobama Theatre, Cleveland Heights, OH

1978–80 Fashion Advertising Art Instructor, Virginia Marti School of Fashion+Interior Design, Cleveland, OH

1976–78 Fashion Advertising Instructor, Barbizon School of Fashion + Interior Design, Cleveland, OH

1974–76 Printmaking Instructor, Karamu Cultural Art Center, Cleveland, OH

1974–75 Fashion Advertising Reproduction Artist, Wells Department Store, Cleveland, OH