Pat Snow’s Textual Art on Display at the Birmingham Public Library

 

"Vulcan," screen print                              "Everything is floating away,"  oil on wood

A new art exhibition has opened at the downtown location of the Birmingham Public Library. 

Pat Snow: Selected Words & Images features recent works by local artist Pat Snow, who is known for his intriguing text-based art. The show is currently on display on the first floor of the Central Library and includes color photographs, ink drawings, paintings, and screen prints. 

Snow uses text and imagery in his work to depict true stories, which he interweaves with personal and art historical references. Humor, the cliché, and the vernacular play important roles in the recounting of his memories. Considered together, Snow’s pieces form a larger narrative with an open-ended storyline, thus triggering the viewer’s imagination. According to the artist, his work ultimately challenges “how one remembers and constructs a personal history.”

Snow credits artists Robert Colescott  and Howard Finster as having introduced him to the use of humor and narrative in art. He cites William Faulkner, William S. Burroughs, and Richard Pryor as significant influences on the textual components of his work. 

Snow’s artwork has been exhibited at numerous venues around the country and is in the collection at the Birmingham Museum of Art. For more information about Pat Snow and his work, please visit patsnow93.com. Contact the artist on Instagram @pat_snow_art for sales information.

Pat Snow: Selected Words & Images will be on display in the glass cases on the first floor of the Central Library through the end of January 2024.

By Margaret Splane, Library Assistant III|BPL Development Office