Brian McPartlon
McPartlon studied art at the San Francisco Art Institute and founded in the 1970’s the leading, casual “alternative space” 63 Bluxome Street Gallery in SoMa.
He has lived and worked in Santa Fe for the past 40 years where he has supported theArts, and local artists. He is well known in the community on account of his roofing business that has provided jobs and allowed McPartlon to raise a family and to paint without constraints. For most of his life, painting has not been his livelihood, but it has sustained his inner life. McPartlon paints every day (for the past 60 years) often late into the night.
Stepping into his spacious studio, one is struck by the number of paintings being worked on. The work starts on the floor and migrates to the wall where pieces are finished.Canvases fill the floor and line the walls. The artwork is grounded in a sense of place, and his use of color and abstraction convey a profound sense of optimism.
His works have been on exhibit in New York, San Francisco, and Santa Fe, NM. Notable shows includeArt ofHeart,San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Downtown Center,The Gold Show, Linda Durham Contemporary, Santa Fe, and a solo show at Pie Projects, Santa Fe, in 2021
Big Blue, 2021, Acrylic and rhoplex on canvas, 93" x 75"
California, 2021, Acrylic and rhoplex on canvas, 67" x 65"
Chapel, 2019, Acrylic and rhoplex on canvas, 65" x 65"
Crane, 2020, Acrylic and rhoplex on paper, 27" x 33"
Crowd, 2020, Acrylic and rhoplex on canvas, 86" x 76"
First, 2020, Acrylic and rhoplex on canvas, 97" x 75"
Lake, 2021, Acrylic and rhoplex on paper, 27" x 33"
Miracle, 2020, Acrylic and rhoplex on canvas, 93" x 75"
New, 2019, Acrylic and rhoplex on canvas, 77" x 97"
Ocean, 2020, Acrylic and rhoplex on canvas, 75" x 98"
Paul, 2019, Acrylic and rhoplex on canvas, 62" x 63"
Red, 2020, Acrylic and rhoplex on canvas, 80" x 53"
Spirit, 2019, Acrylic and rhoplex on canvas, 64" x 61"
Resumé
An Abstract Expressionist based in Santa Fe, NM
EDUCATION:
1974 San Francisco State University - San Francisco, California
1973 San Francisco Art Institute - San Francisco, California BFA
1967 School of Visual Arts - New York City, New York
EXHIBITIONS:
2021 The Shape of Color - Pie Projects, Santa Fe, NM
2015 Watercolors - Olive Rush Garden, Canyon Rd, Santa Fe, NM
2010 The Gold Show - Linda Durham Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
2010 Impressions - The Garden at Friends Hall, Canyon Road, Santa Fe, NM
2009 Solo Show - Goldleaf Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2005 Solo Show, My Life - Expressions in Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
1981 Six - Gallery Space, San Francisco, CA
1980 Coast To Coast - Public Image, New York, NY
1978 Painting & Drawings - Richard Brown, Brian McPartlon, Nielsen Gallery, Berkeley, CA
1977 Solo Show - Galleria, Mission Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA
1977 Art of Heart - San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Downtown Center, CA
1976 America - 63 Bluxome Street, San Francisco, CA
1975 Solo Show - Canessa Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1975 Information - Atholl McBean Gallery at The San Francisco Art Institute, CA
1974 Three Painters - 63 Bluxome Street, San Francisco, CA
1968 Selections - School of Visual Arts, New York, NY
1965 Best of the Stockade - Oak Room Gallery, Schenectady, NY
COLLECTIONS:
The University of New Mexico Law School - Albuquerque, New Mexico
Mr. Thomas Martinez - San Francisco, California
Danny Adair, Corporate Offices of US Ply - Dallas, Texas
Mr. & Mrs. Albert Finnilla - Larkspur, California
REVIEWS AND PUBLICATIONS:
2021 November, Pasatiempo Santa Fe New Mexico, Michael Abatemarco, Brian McPartlon at Pie Projects, EXHIBITIONISM
2020 March, Wikipedia, Grahambrunk and Community, Founder Alternative Gallery South of Market, 63 Bluxome Street Gallery
2009 July, The New Mexican, Pual Weideman, The Roof will set you free, Magazine Article
2005 October, Crosswinds Weekly, Lisa Polisar, The Man Who Fell to Earth: Brian McPartlon’s new abstracts, Newspaper Article
1999 October, Pasatiempo, Denise Kusel, Raise the Roof, Article in Pasatiempo
1978 October, The San Francisco Bay Guardian, Artists Invite You Home, Robert Atkins, Newspaper Article
1976 June, San Francisco Chronicle, An Exhibition of Artistic ‘Auto’-Graphs, Suzan Boetter, Newspaper Article
1976 January, San Francisco Chronicle, The Art World Radical Rhetoric In New Journals, Thomas Albright, Cover of Art section in Newspaper Article
1975 December, San Francisco Chronicle, The Expanding Alternatives, Tomas Albright, Newspaper Article
1975 November, South of Market Artist Got Their Act Together, Thomas Albright, Cover of Art section in Newspaper Article
1975 October, Floating Seminar #2 A Survey of Alternative Art Spaces, Paul Kagawa, 63 Bluxome St