Patrick Schmidt

Patrick Schmidt is a full-time artist with over 40 solo and 70 group shows throughout the US and Europe, He designs for both public and private spaces. His colorful geometric abstract paintings have a deep connection to the mid-20C hard-edge/op-art movements that were developed in Europe and South America, as well as the P&D Movement from the mid-1970s-1980s in the United States. 

As a colorist by nature, Schmidt uses pigment to talk about the world, partly as internal dialog, partly as outward observation. The origin of his work begins with patterns, such as wallpaper and fabric, which he juxtaposes and layers to develop innovative compositions and new meanings. The artist then takes those patterns and digitizes them to create a hybrid of the earlier work. Schmidt employs a network of color schemes (what he refers to as “color communities”), to resolve the compositional disparity in his work that mirrors today’s overtly divisive and political environment. In other words, because Schmidt is interested in the idea of “and”—of unifying opposites and adjacent--he uses art to resolve perceived inequalities. These integrations occur in large and small degrees. 

As part of ARTPRIZE 2016, Schmidt completed a 14’ x 250’ tape installation on the windows of the Grand Rapids Public Museum’s carousel that extends over the Grand River in Michigan. The same year, he mounted a room-size tape drawing at Pittsburgh Center for the Arts and was commissioned by the Mexican War Streets Community Garden for a 12’ steel sculpture. Since 2018, the artist has had a wall-size mural on display in the D concourse at Pittsburgh International Airport. 

More recently, Schmidt designed a concrete patio space for Monday’s Brewing in Peters Township, PA (2021) and had the honor of receiving a retrospective of his work at the Southern Allegheny Museum of Art in Altoona, PA (2022). In addition, his works on canvas and paper are in corporate and personal collections across the US, Europe, and Russia, one of which was featured in the October 2024 issue of House Beautiful magazine. As an artist, Schmidt combines color theory (what he calls “the politics of color”) with contemporary symbology to generate a recognizable and coherent style. 

Schmidt is a teaching artist who lives with his wife & dog in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

Statement:   

I have always worked with abstract shapes and forms to confront the world around me. I see today’s environment as hard edged, in-your-face, and overtly political. As a colorist by nature, I use color to speak to/talk about the world, partly as internal dialog, partly as outward observation. I use a network of color schemes to suggest disparity coming together.  The transparent geometric shape(s) within each work hint at a false sense of control or perception. The circle connects to the roots of Geometric Abstract but also, the Buddhist concept of the Dharma Wheel where the circle becomes a place of mindful meditation through the optical transparency. My work references modern predecessors of Op-art (South American and European), hardedge abstraction, and the P&D Movement of the 1970’s while placing a contemporary twist on it by combining color theory (i. e., the politics of color), hardedge/geometric abstraction, elements of color field, and digital manipulation. 

Patrick Schmidt's website