Patrick Angus exhibition

Patrick Angus

15 January – 27 February 2021
Opening Friday, 15 January from 11am – 6pm

Bortolami Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of historical works by Patrick Angus (1953-1992), an artist
known for his strikingly intimate portraits of men and honest depictions of the gay experience in 1980s New York.
The exhibition presents three quintessential paintings and an extensive selection of works on paper spanning from
the late 1970s until the artist’s untimely death in 1992. Angus keenly drew what he saw, and in these early portraits
he renders men in graphite, colored pencil, pastel, watercolor and oil—lounging, sleeping, and posing in figure
drawing classes and domestic interiors. Captured in a fluid yet sharply observant style, Angus shepherded in a
unique form of expressive social realism.

Raised in a sheltered California suburb of Santa Barbara, Angus took an early interest in visual art and began
lessons in portraiture and genre subject matter at age thirteen. In college, Angus discovered David Hockney’s
scenes of glamorous gay life in Los Angeles. Grappling with his sexuality during this formative period, Hockney’s
work offered Angus a sense of liberation and inspired him to relocate to LA in 1975. Angus ultimately lacked access
to elite creative communities and the world of affluence he sought, leading him to commit his time to figure drawing
and exploring the intricacies of the male portrait as his central theme.

Angus’ move to New York in 1980 introduced a radical shift in subject matter as he gained entry into the gay
cinemas, bath houses, and male strip clubs of the city. Hanky Panky (1990) and I Get Weak (1991) depict scenes
from the Gaiety Theatre and The Prince, famous gay theatres frequented by the artist in Times Square. An erotic
movie glows as interactions take place among the backlit audience—a movie-goer holds up the red cherry of a
cigarette in a beckoning hand and shirtless hustlers lean against the walls of stairwells leading to shadowy back
rooms. Self-Portrait as Picasso (1980) similarly displays a complex composition wherein Angus contemplates his
mirror reflection, obfuscated by a fireplace mantle topped with a litany of objects including a classical bust. These
scenes, both public and private, generate a web of uncertainty between viewer and image, all the while illustrating
Angus’ distinctive use of tonal figuration and deft sensitivity to light and space.