Patrick Vale is an artist who’s intricate portraits of cities have recently captured public imagination. His time lapse film “Empire State of Pen” captured five days of intensive drawing and brought critical acclaim across the design and architectural worlds, it clocked up 700,000 plays in a few weeks. The Huffington Post described the film as “jaw-dropping” and Rob Alderson from “It’s Nice That” commented that “the ridiculous level of skill involved is staggering”.
Patrick’s large and highly detailed freehand drawings render the history and drama of our cities, they invite us to peer into the fabric of the place. He delights in showing us the intricate structures of fire escapes and rooftops as much as he does the more famous landmarks, and it is this that really allow the viewer to look and explore for themselves. This exploration is encouraged by Patricks line work, A.J Aternal from Architizer describes it as ” wilfully scraggly, imperfect without being whimsical or cute” . He relentlessly builds up layer upon layer of line and ink that seems to mirror the time that has passed as these cities have grown and evolved. Often picking a very high vantage point, Patrick creates work that show vast swathes of the city that invites us to investigate and engage with.
Venue.- Coningsby Gallery. 30 Tottenham Street. W1T 4RJ London. United Kingdom.
Dates.- 4 April 2013–12 April 2013.
