art629
Patrick Schiavino
Patrick Schiavino is a self-taught artist. He is a graduate of Montclair State College where he studied Industrial Arts and Design. After graduation, Patrick spent time in Soho, NYC, assisting in the design and buildout of several loft conversions. This is where he developed his interest in fine art. Also around this time, he was commissioned to design and build a jazz club in Montclair called Katie Gray’s, where he stayed on as the talent buyer and promoter for the venue. Through his interest in the music business, he went on to become the talent buyer for the famous Club Bene’ in Sayreville, NJ and then the booking agent for the “Uncle Floyd Show”.
Patrick started painting in the mid-1980’s. He participated in well over 30 exhibitions in the years from 1992 through 2000. In 1994 he was selected by the Federal Government to have two of his paintings displayed at the American Embassy in Luxembourg. In 1996 he was invited by the Center of Emerging Arts, Miami, to have five of his paintings tour the United States. The following year, he did a three month solo exhibition at the State House Rotunda in Trenton. In 1998, he received a Dodge Foundation Grant to participate in the Artist in Residency Program at the prestigious Vermont School. That same year Patrick was invited by music icon Sting, and tennis great John McEnroe, to participate in a fundraising exhibition at the John McEnroe Gallery in Soho, to benefit the Rainforest Foundation.
In 2000, Patrick retired from the music business to become a full-time artist and purchased a building on Cookman Avenue in downtown Asbury Park, which serves as his home and studio, and where he has operated art629 Gallery to this day.
He also founded The Asbury Underground Art and Music Crawl in 2014, which brings thousands of art and music fans to the downtown visiting as many as 32 galleries and shops hosting a full day of art, music, spoken word, dance and comedy.
Brittany James
As a Jersey Shore native, Brittany James began painting at Riverview Art School in Island Heights. She graduated from Montclair State University with a BFA degree concentrated in oil painting in 2009. Her paintings are of surreal images, depicting women’s rights and the relationships between women in nature and society.
One of Brittany’s more recent series of paintings, “Women’s Work” focuses on gender stereotypes, inequality, objectification and oppression of women. Her paintings are often inspired by dreams, poetry, and words. Brittany’s latest body of work was inspired by Glennon Doyle’s book Untamed, a memoir that seeks to liberate women from the societal expectations that bind them. She was also inspired by author Jeanette Winterson’s writings about the balance between the wild and the tame.
Brittany often paints bright, whimsical portraits of women surrounded by flowers, but with underlying themes of darkness. She likes to include contrasting imagery that is a mix of delicacy and harshness. She sometimes creates a break in the reality of the painting by using abstract drips of turpentine in the background to give the image a dreamlike quality.
In addition to painting, Brittany teaches art classes for children and teens at Inspired Minds Fine Art School in Lincroft. She also teaches painting and life drawing classes for adults at art629 Gallery in Asbury Park and curates local art exhibitions. She has painted live on stage at the State Theater in New Brunswick, The Vogel in Red Bank, and the Paramount Theater in Asbury Park, and was part of a performance art piece during the Summer of Love concert at Count Basie Theater in Red Bank. She also does live paintings for weddings and events. She has been a muralist and featured artist for the Asbury Underground Art & Music Crawl and the Asbury Park City Mural Project, and has shown her work in several galleries in the New York tri- state area.
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