Patrick Krzyzanowski

2011-10-31T15:56:00.000-07:00

I have a little write-up in this month's issue of Blisss, you can read an online version of it here:

2011-10-14T11:38:00.000-07:00

Here is an interview I did for Vice Magazine Portugal. And for those who can't read portuguese:

I like your paintings a lot. Tell us a little about them.

Thanks! The paintings begin as digital collages that I make in photoshop, which I then paint a small-scale watercolour from. Part of the process of collaging is to insure that the finished work is unrecognizable to the original source material I’ve used. I wouldn’t want someone to do a wrestling image search and recognize one of my paintings.

Is your body of work all pop culture related?

Sure, my work is very much rooted in pop culture, although I wouldn’t say it in those words. I want to make honest art; me trying to be political wouldn’t work because I'm just not interested in politics and don't follow it. I prefer to work more with the kinds of things I like and have continued to interest me ever since I was a kid, like wrestling, sports and heavy metal.

Why wrestling?

Professional wrestling is multi-faceted and complex. My reasons for drawing and painting wrestlers has changed since I first started. Originally it was a very superficial reaction to scantily clad, muscular men that influenced my first homo-erotic drawings. Since then, and I’m not afraid to admit it, I’ve become a wrestling fan! The newest body of work reflects this, focusing on the staged and performative elements of wrestling: choreography, personalities and costumes.

Have you ever got smacked in the head with a chair?

I have been hit in the head with a lot of things, I’ve even hit lots of people in the head with things, but unfortunately a chair was never involved.

“Smell the Blood”. Great title by the way. Is it a private joke?

Ha ha, yeah it is, but not a very good one. I was doing a residency at the School of Visual Arts in New York two summers ago and heard an art critic close his lecture by telling us not to bother inviting him to our art shows, assuring us that he and other critics are able to smell the blood in the water as efficiently as sharks. Needless to say my blood was never smelt.

I’m not that much of a wrestling fan but I do recognize some of the faces in your paintings. The thing I like about your watercolors is that it’s not abstract, I get it. Like most pop art. How do you feel about this subject?

All the body parts you see in the paintings are direct references from real wrestlers and Frankenstien’ed together. Unfortunately, I feel like I’ve lost the ability to draw from my head, a skill I am extremely envious and jealous of.

I do feel like my work is very accessible, as high realism, labour intensive work generally is. It is nice to have someone who wouldn’t normally be into seeing watercolours, happy because you included their favorite baseball coach (true story). That being said, I love work that is more abstract, minimal or conceptual, it’s just harder to do!

What’s your favorite movie, videogame and book?

Movie: Jurassic Park
Video Games: All the old Lucas Arts and Sierra adventure games
Book: Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

What do you do when you’re not painting?

I work as a studio assistant for Nicholas Di Genova during the day and a dishwasher at a bar by night. When I’m not working my jobs or painting for myself I try to hang out with my girlfriend and friends as much as possible. Pretty normal stuff, sorry.

I’d like to buy one of those. How much will it cost me?

That depends on the painting and how good your heavy metal tape collection is.

Dot Com

2011-08-17T15:48:00.000-07:00

Check my new website here, made by Yarek Waszul.

Headlock chain

2011-07-20T22:24:00.000-07:00

New Painting:

2011-05-26T20:21:00.000-07:00

Ladders!

2011-04-18T13:37:00.000-07:00

Here are two new paintings:

(Both images have been cropped)

The National Post

2011-04-08T10:03:00.000-07:00

2011-02-28T21:55:00.000-08:00

Im going to have a piece in C Magazine's 7th annual benefit auction. There is an online preview here. All the work looks amazing.

Here is a small painting I had in a fundraising auction for Guelph's Juried Art Show.

If you're interested my friend Prashant Gopal came by the studio and took some pictures for Northern Embassy. There is a picture of the newest painting i finished. Ill post a scan soon.

Scans

2010-11-20T19:15:00.001-08:00

Here is a slightly better scan of a piece I finished this summer (excuse the seams):

Here's my latest painting:

Alex's Photos

2010-08-03T11:29:00.000-07:00

Here are some proper photos that friend Alex Cirka took of me working in the studio. There's lots more great stuff to look at on his blog.

The final piece. Ill post a better scan soon.

New York

2010-06-24T13:46:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the lack of updates, I haven't been able to get on the internet long enough to post anything until now....

For the past month I've been living in New York City, doing an artist residency at the School of Visual Arts, and I'll be here until mid august. Here are some photos of my studio in downtown manhattan, my apartment in brooklyn and a scan of my newest painting.

The Studio:

The Apartment

my bedroom

living room and kitchen

patio

And a painting:

Ill post more paintings when I got 'em

2010-04-23T18:11:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of drawings from my sketch book,

This drawing is all the boy baby names from babynames.com that work in the style of the metallica logo

My long time friend and Jurassic Park enthusiast Leland Nightingale-Forfar drew this gem for me:

I didn't want to draw on Leland's drawing but I wanted a shadow so I did this one:

... and the exciting news that I mentioned last post is that Ed Video is taking 3 of my wrestling drawings to Sudbury for the Sudbury Art Fair May 5-8.

More to come soon.

2010-04-19T10:02:00.001-07:00

So school is officially done...

This year I was lucky enough to have my own studio for the first time, along with 15 other super talented artists. Our show, which just wrapped up at Ed Video was a sad reminder that, while everyone else is graduating, I will be coming back next semester to finish art histories. I will also be drawing in my bedroom again.

Anyways, here are pictures of the show....

Anuta Skypnychenko

Christina Boyer

Paul Hay

Stefan Herda

Victor Stan

Laura Simon

Courtney Bryant (Missing a photo and a video)

Darryn Doull

Drea Scotland's photo booth in the back corner. You can check the pictures here

Meg Wilcox

Shannon Dickie

Liam Sanagan (missing: his CD multiple)

Donna Willard

Studio mate Sam Silversides was still trying to get his project done while the show was being documented so no picture. Here is a sweet drawing of his I had on my computer instead.

Ill post some more stuff I did this semester soon, as well as some exciting news.... come back

2010-04-10T13:13:00.000-07:00

This drawing being done means I'm done school...

2010-04-08T12:54:00.000-07:00

If you're in the area, come and see our show! I'm currently trying to finish my final painting, when its done and installed I will post pictures. promise.

Wrestling Triangle

2010-03-16T17:44:00.001-07:00

DONE!

2010-03-10T08:18:00.000-08:00

I somehow managed to get into the newest issue of C Magazine. This is for sure a first, and still can't believe it. My name is even on the front cover!

On a much less exciting note, I found some cool wrestlemania buttons

and was given this great picture of a hockey ball

My latest wrestling watercolour is almost finished and will be posted very soon.

2010-03-01T15:15:00.000-08:00

Painting in progress...

Just finished

2010-02-08T14:31:00.001-08:00

Here is the finished painting I've been working on for the past couple of weeks:

Watercolour on paper

12" x 9"

2010-01-26T19:08:00.000-08:00

Heres the painting Im working on. It should be done by the end of the week. I have a couple of due dates coming up so Ill have more to post soon.

2010-01-18T12:14:00.000-08:00

Here are two paintings I did last semester. I was trying to figure out possible backgrounds.

Fishing for Marlins

2009-12-31T14:07:00.000-08:00

watercolour on paper

9" x 12"

2009-11-29T00:23:00.001-08:00

Finally after over a month of painting this ones done. I could of spent more time on it but the paintings due tomorrow so I had to stop.

More work

2009-11-08T19:21:00.000-08:00

Here is a drawing I did this summer of some wrestlers.

Here is a little drawing I finished yesterday.

Here is the Painting I'm currently working on.

Here goes nothing

2009-10-23T14:53:00.000-07:00

I'm currently in my 4th year at the University of Guelph studying studio art. I figured I'd start one of these sites to get my work, friend's work, and anything else online. So here goes nothing...

This is my studio space I share with Sam Silversides.... Its hard to photograph because its small and narrow but it is incredible to have my own space for the first time to work in.

My desk.....

I just started a new watercolour painting. Its going to be large and really complicated so its going to take me a long time to finish. Ill post pictures along the way. Hopefully when its all done it will look similar to this, except bigger and better.

Ill post more drawings/paintings soon.