Lando Gallery - Patrick Maisano

Biography

Patrick Maisano was born in April 1964 in New Haven, Connecticut. He graduated from the University of Connecticut in 1986. He was about to enter graduate studies in pursuit of a fine art teaching credential when a compelling force drew him in a different direction. Maisano spent a year contemplating a religious vocation at a Franciscan Community in New York City. During this period of deliberation over a religious life, a reading of Otto Rank's 'Art and Artist' resonated with personal truth and Maisano decided that his intended path was that of an artist rather than a priest. In 1992, Maisano left New York for California where he constructed a reclusive lifestyle devoted solely to his art. Since 1992 Patrick Maisano has shown his work annually, and his paintings have been placed in distinguished American collections.

To clarify esthetic theory, Joseph Campbell looks to James Joyce in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Joyce distinguishes 'proper art' as that which truly belongs to Art, and affirms Aquinas' statement that the esthetic object renders three moments. Translated from Latin the moments are, 'Wholeness,' 'Harmony,' and 'Radiance.' Perhaps these are the qualities that best define the Art of Patrick Maisano.

Artist's Statement

"I paint in an attempt to create a beautiful object; an object that resonates with some quality of soul or magic. The scribe is aware that the subject of his record is sacred and therefore he labors willfully to infuse his work with beauty. I share this same willfulness in creating a painting." (Maisano)

The enchanting imagery found in Patrick Maisano's paintings tells a universal story in the timeless language of myth. This isart that elicits a response from our most basic level; pure, instinctual, spiritually primal. Mythical beings, mystical beasts, and religious iconography combine to create magical compositions that are joyful, haunting, metaphysical, and very beautiful. His work is transcendental and immediate, masculine
and feminine, testimonial and celebratory.

" The imagery speaks to the mystery of our existence, it does not provide answers, rather it testifies to the presence of the mystery." (Maisano) Maisano believes that Carl Jung's idea of a collective unconscious, "the part of the psyche that retains and transmits the common psychological inheritance of mankind" is useful in explaining the archetypal imagery contained in his work.

Regarding his creative process Maisano states, "My paintings begin without a preconceived subject. Paint is applied to the canvas in a manner which establishes variations in values; within these light and dark patterns, forms are suggested. Once
a form is accepted, it is then deliberately developed into the imagery of the painting."