Fellow Fridays: Grace Chao, Jack Eley, Zeinab Shahidi Marnani, and Micha Patiniott

Micha Patiniott creates minimalistic and atmospheric paintings of everyday objects and processes in flux, blurring the boundaries of the mundane and the cosmic. Familiar and intimate subjects, such as the blinking of a butterfly’s wings, the throbbing of private body parts, the curving of a mathematical object, and the turning of an ambiguous portrait, transform into sensuous otherness through painterly modifications. Bodies and objects gently float and are in the midst of changing form—they may vanish entirely, or exist in indeterminate stages of becoming. Some parts remain enigmatically blurred and abstracted, while others emerge with sharp clarity. A play of nebulous light and skewed colors alludes to a contemporary take on historical painting techniques like impressionism and sfumato. Patiniott embraces impermanence as a crucial element in experiencing the transcendent and sublime, reflecting the metamodernism concept of exploring ever-shifting perspectives of the self. He lives and works in Amsterdam, and holds an MA from the HKU University of the Arts Utrecht. He was a resident artist at the Rijksakademie Amsterdam (2006-07) and the Fine Arts Work Center Provincetown (2008-09). Solo and group exhibitions include the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam; Anna Zorina Gallery, New York; PuntWG, Amsterdam; Cinnamon, Rotterdam; Heden, Den Haag; WHATSPACE, Tilburg;  MKgalerie, Rotterdam; Galerie Sturm, Nuremberg; Dordrechts Museum; Whitechapel Gallery, London; Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam; and Museum Hilversum. Patiniott is a returning Fellow from 2008-2009.