Paintings
About
Patrick Quarm (b. 1988, Ghana) graduated from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana (2012) with a BFA in Painting and an MFA from Texas Tech University (2018).
Currently lives and works between Ghana and the United States. Quarm’s practice explores identity, focusing on the notion of cultural hybridity and social evolution. His paintings weave and splice cultural signifiers from different eras and communities into multi-layered works.
Quarm’s work has been featured in numerous exhibitions including Ross+Kramer Gallery, New York, NY; Trout Museum of Art, Appleton, WI; Kunstraum Potsdam, Berlin, DE; Library Street Art Collective, Detroit, MI; K.N.U.S.T Museum Kumasi, Ghana; and the Urban Institute of Contemporary Arts, Grand Rapids, MI.
His work is held in several public and private collections which include the Syracuse University Museum, Kalamazoo Institute of Art, and Kemper Museum collection. He has participated as an artist-in-residence at the Red Bull Artist Residency in Detroit 2019 and was recently awarded the prestigious NXTHVN Fellowship 2021-2022.
Artist Statement
Through my paintings, I aim to investigate the constantly evolving concept of the contemporary African. Born in Ghana in 1988 and moving to the United States for my MFA studies in 2015, I have found that my identity shifts and changes relative to the prevailing narratives in these disparate spaces. I explore the confrontation upon my identity living in a new culture and environment. I regard this as a hybrid identity. As the body moves through time and events, it evolves into something new, something beautiful and something that transcends. With this, I pose the questions: What is the new? Who is the new? and how has the new evolved overtime?
The subjects of my paintings are friends, family, and colleagues, who come with their own complex backgrounds of hybridity. Within my paintings, I use African print fabric for its associations as a politically charged material that is both culturally specific and representative of global exchange. My process involves layering, cutting and erasing; these characterize my paintings with a visual topography, commanding the experience and engagement of the viewer.
CV
EDUCATION
2015–18 MFA Painting and Drawing, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
2008–12 BFA Painting, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2020 Salvaged Imperial, Albertz Benda Gallery, New York, New York
2019 Paradox: Surfaces of Self, N’Namdi Contemporary Miami. Miami, Florida
2018 Parallel Identities: Patterns of Place, Satellite Gallery, Lubbock, Texas
2017 There is Only One Side, CASP Studio 4, Lubbock, Texas. Curated by Victoria Marie Bee
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2023 Rites of Passage, Gagosian, London, England. Curated by Peju Oshin
2023 Narrative Threads, Fiber Art Today, Moody Center for the Arts – Rice University, Houston, TX
2022 Unmasking Masculinity for the 21st Century, Kalamazoo Institute of Art, Kalamazoo, MI
“Undercurrents”, Sean Kelly Gallery, New York, New York
Family Ties, David Klein Gallery, Detroit, Michigan
2021 ONTOLOGY, Ross and Kramer Gallery, New York, New York
Unraveled. Restructured. Revealed: Where Contemporary Art and Diverse Perspectives Intersect,
Trout Museum of Art, Appleton, Wisconsin.
2020 Fragmented Bodies, Albertz Benda Gallery, New York, New York
“Translating Valence”, Urban Institute of Contemporary Arts (UICA). Grand Rapids, MI
“More is More”, Contemporary Art Museum Plainview. Plainview, Texas
BLACK VOICES/BLACK MICROCOSM, CFHIL. Stockholm, Sweden
INSIGHT, Pippy Houldworth Gallery. Mayfair, London
2019 Anansesem, Albertz Benda Gallery, New York, New York
Red Bull Artist in Resident Group Show, Red Bull House of Arts, Detroit, Michigan
SNOW DAY, Thierry Goldberg Gallery, New York, New York.
2018 HOMEMADE, Library Street Art Collective, Detroit, Michigan. Curated by McArthur Binion
Place, Norwest Gallery, Detroit, Michigan. Curated by Asia Hamilton
Oso Bay Biennial XX: Realism Redux, Texas A&M University. Corpus Christi, TX
Rising Eyes of Texas, Rockport Center for the arts, Rockport, Texas. Curated by Rainey Knudson
West Meets West: Illuminated Figures, Caviel Museum of African America History, Lubbock, Texas.
Figure Resuscitation, Satellite Gallery, Lubbock, Texas. Curated by Jeramiah Macha and Samantha
Resendez.
2016 Annual MFA Show, Landmark Gallery, Lubbock, Texas. Curated by Landmark Gallery.
2015 Annual MFA Show, Landmark Gallery, Lubbock, Texas. Curated by Landmark Gallery.
2012 End of Year, K.N.U.S.T Museum, Kumasi, Ghana. Curated by KNUST Museum
2011 Illumination, K.N.U.S.T Museum, Kumasi, Ghana. Curated by Michael Sarkodie
Art, Trade &Technology Fair, K.N.U.S.T Museum, Kumasi, Ghana. Curated by KNUST Museum
2009 Art, Trade &Technology Fair, K.N.U.S.T Museum, Kumasi, Ghana. Curated by KNUST Museum
AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES
2021 NXTHVN Fellowship, New Haven, CT
2019 Red Bull House of Art Artist in Residence, Detroit, MI
2018 Thomas ‘Curry’ Roberts- Regent Endowment Art Scholarship, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
2017 Alan and Lee Ann White Regents Endowment Visual & Performing Arts, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
Graduate Fellowship Award, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
2016 Graduate Fellowship Award, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
Helen Devitt Jones Talent Based Scholarship, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
2015 Graduate Fellowship Award, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
Helen Devitt Jones Talent Based Scholarship, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
2006 Visual Art Student Award, Prempeh College, Kumasi, Ghana
PUBLICATIONS
2020 Art of Choice, “Patrick Quarm Brings Together A Hybridized Society”, February 5, New York, New York
https://www.artofchoice.co/patrick-quarm-brings-together-a-hybridized-society/
2020 Sugarcane Magazine, “REVIEW: AFRICAN ARTIST TO WATCH BRINGS COLOR TO MIAMI”, January 13,” Miami, FL
https://sugarcanemag.com/2020/01/review-african-artist-to-watch-brings-color-to-miami/
2019 Alive Magazine. “What Is It To Become: The Astonishing Art of Patrick Quarm, July 17”
http://alivemag.com/what-it-is-to-become-the-astonishing-art-of-patrick-quarm/
2018 ARTFORUM. “Red Bull Arts Detroit Announces Recipients Of Expanded Residency And Fellowship Program, December 27” Detroit, Mi.
https://www.artforum.com/news/red-bull-arts-detroit-announces-recipients-of-expanded-residency-and- fellowship-program-78228
2018 HYPERALLERGIC. “In Miami, a Fair for Artists from Africa and the African Diaspora Shines Again, December 7,” Miami, FL.
https://hyperallergic.com/474946/prizm-art-fair-2018-miami/
2018 TTU Discoveries Magazine Spring 2018. “Patrick Quarm: Exploring Identity Through Art, April 16,” Lubbock, Texas.
https://www.depts.ttu.edu/vpr/discoveries/
2018 Glasstire. “Patrick Quarm’s Parallel Identities, April 11,” Houston, Texas.
http://glasstire.com/2018/04/11/patrick-quarms-parallel-identities/
2018 thebowerbird. “Patrick Quarm’s Parallel Identities, April 9,” Lubbock, Texas.
http://www.thebowerbirdlbk.com/single-post/2018/04/09/Patrick-Quarm-Parallel-Identities
2018 Texas Tech Today. “Patrick Quarm: Exploring Identity Through Art, April 5,” Lubbock, Texas.
http://today.ttu.edu/posts/2018/04/patrick-quarm
2018 Daily Toreador.com. “FFAT Exhibit to Honor African-American History Month, February 28,” Lubbock, Texas.
http://www.dailytoreador.com/lavida/ffat-exhibit-to-honor-african-american-history month/article_6cae93f8- 1cfc-11e8-9965- 93d03a5fe7f8.html
2018 Texas Tech Today. “Graduate Student Artist to Discuss African-American History Month Exhibition, February 27,” Lubbock, Texas.
http://today.ttu.edu/posts/2018/02/adv-african-american-history-exhibit
2018 Fox34.com, “West Meets West’ Exhibit Highlights African and African-American Culture, February 01,” Lubbock, Texas.
http://www.fox34.com/story/37629086/west-meets-west-exhibit-highlights-african-and-african-american- culture
2017 thebowerBird, “Fan Girl: Patrick Quarm, September 01,” Lubbock, Texas
http://www.thebowerbirdlbk.com/single-post/2017/09/01/Fan-Girl-Patrick-Quarm
2017 Trove54 “Featured Artist: Patrick Quarm, February 20, London.
https://trove54.org/featured-artist-patrick-quarm/
2012 Oil City Magazine, Western Region Artist, July 1, Takoradi, Ghana