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UA Gallery Features Birmingham Artist Patty B. Driscoll

Patty B. Driscoll, “Garzoni and Gluck,” oil on panel, 18 x 24 x 1 inches. Image courtesy of the artist.

(TUSCALOOSA, Ala.) – The University of Alabama Gallery is proud to present the exhibition, The Magpie in the Mirror: Patty B. Driscoll. The show will open on First Friday, October 7 and run through December 2, 2022. There will be a reception for the artist on First Friday, November 4, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.

Check out a few installation shots of the exhibition on Flickr.

As art historian Tanja L. Jones writes in the catalog essay, “Patty B. Driscoll’s beguiling works of art engage questions of identity, self-awareness and equity. In this exhibition, the artist ranges across media to address belonging, acknowledgement, tradition, violence, and rebellion through painstakingly detailed objects. Some are designed to endure while others beguilingly convey that permanence is elusive and that all is not what it seems.”

Driscoll utilizes traditional genres and processes such as the still life, water gilding, metalwork, and textiles, layering her work with subtle narratives and subject matter that investigate the context of feminine and feminist identity. The artist writes that her work “is a dialogue with historical pathways, iconography and the symbolism of women, and challenges implicit societal representations and inculcated cultural values.”

Daniel White, director of the UA Gallery, writes, “Her work takes place in the role she deftly inhabits as a studio artist bridging both art history and contemporary art: the role of the connector. In this creative capacity, she connects meaning and beauty for beauty’s sake into her work, allowing a visual conversation between the two and with the viewer. Driscoll upsets traditional interpretations of what is a painting and what is a well-crafted object.”

Check out some installation shots from the show on Flickr.com.

Birmingham native Patty B. Driscoll holds an MFA from the California College of the Arts and a Bachelor of Science in studio art and art history from Skidmore College. In addition to her formal degree training, Driscoll has studied at the Florence Academy of Art, the Studio Arts College International in Florence, and the Instituto Allende in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. She has been awarded a residency at Hambidge Center in Rabun Gap, Georgia. Her paintings have been exhibited at the Abroms-Engels Institute for the Visual Arts, Ground Floor Contemporary, and the Birmingham Museum of Art in Birmingham, Alabama; Alexandria Museum of Art, Louisiana; Masur Museum of Art, Monroe, Louisiana; Wiregrass Museum of Art, Dothan, Alabama; and the Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, Saratoga Springs, New York. For the past 20 years, Driscoll has lived and worked in her hometown of Birmingham. Her website is here.

The University of Alabama Gallery is an essential part of the education and development of UA students and our community. Admission to the gallery is free. The gallery is located in the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center at 620 Greensboro Avenue in Tuscaloosa. It is open Monday through Friday, 9 am-4 pm and First Fridays 12 noon-7 pm. Have questions or need assistance? Call (205) 345-3038. 

For more information about The University of Alabama’s programs in art history and studio art, visit our Degree Programs page.