I take the calm of a place, and I put it in my pocket and carry it back to my studio.
KIRK TATOM
EDUCATION:
1973-76 Kansas City Art Institute
1972 BFA U of Utah
ARTIST'S STATEMENT:
I find quiet, comforting images in all the places I go to. I take the calm of a place, and I put it in my pocket and carry it back to my studio. The rugged or the brutal escape my clutch.
The intimate spot, the secret garden - these are the places I want to keep. I ask myself if what I have found I want to keep in my view for a long, long time. Then I ask how I want to see it. If I can take the what and the how and combine them into beauty, then the muse has whispered in my ear. If I paint that serene breath of joy into time, I believe I am genuinely fulfilling what my audience desires of me.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS:
Exhibiting since 1973, Tatom has an extensive show history. Here are a few of his many shows:
Selby Fleetwood Gallery, Santa Fe, NM 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004
The VonLiebig Art Center, Naples, FL 2008, 2007
Denise Roberge Gallery, Palm Desert, CA 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003
Harmon Meek Gallery, Naples, FL 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002
Carol Henderson Gallery, Fort Worth, TX 2006, 2005, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000
Duley / Jones Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ 2006, 2005
William Zimmer Gallery, Mendocino, CA 2006, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996
Sardella Fine Art, Aspen, CO 2005
Craighead Green, Dallas, TX 2004
Jan Rice Gallery, Denver, CO 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001
Deloney Newkirk, SFe, NM 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999
Chiaroscuro, Scottsdale/Santa Fe 2003, 2002
Craighead Green 2003, 2002
Desert Caballeros Museum, Wickenburg, AZ 2002
Suzanne Brown, Scottsdale, AZ 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997
Nancy Worthington Fine Art, Houston, TX 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996
Howard/Mandville Galleries, Kirkland, WA 1998
James Ratliff Gallery, Sedona, AZ 1998, 1997, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1992
Sunbird Gallery, Los Altos, CA 1998
Carol/ Turner Gallery, SFe 1998
Houshang Gallery, SFe 1998, 1997, 1990, 1989
Expressions in Fine Art, SFe 1998, 1997
Downey Gallery, SFe 1997
Glenn Green Gallery, SFe 1997, 1996, 1994, 1993, 1992
Renaissance Gallery, Gustine, CA 1997, 1996
Howard/ Mandville Galleries 1997
Contemporary Southwest, SFe, NM 1995
Danela Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ 1995
Jayne Gallery, Kansas City, MO 1994
Maveety Gallery, Gleneden, OR 1994, 1993
Gallery Mack, Seattle, WA 1994, 1993, 1992, 1990, 1989
Michael Wigley Gallery, SFe, NM 1994
Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT 1993
Gallery at Salishan, Gleneden, OR 1993
Squash Blossom Contemporary, Palm Desert, CA 1992, 1990, 1989
Phillips Gallery, Park City, Utah 1991, 1990
Esther Wells Collection, Laguna Beach, CA 1991, 1990
Santa Fe East, SFe, NM 1991, 1990, 1989
Zimmerman-Saturn, Nashville, TN 1989
Naples Gallery, Naples, FL 1989
AWARDS:
Artist in Residence, Sitka Center, Otis, OR
Founders Series Recipient, 1993
PUBLICATIONS:
American Art Collector, July 2007, May 2006
Wildlife Art, September 2005
The SFe NewMexican, Pasatiempo, July 2005
Focus, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1995, 1988
SFE 1989, 1987
Palm Springs Life, Oct. 1988
Designers West Magazine, August 1987
Reflections of the Southwest Calendar, Baptist Medical Center, Oklahoma City
COLLECTIONS:
Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT
City of Greenville, Greenville, TX
Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, TX
Smithsonian, Washington, DC
Old Jail Art Center, Albany, TX
First Union Bank of Nashville, TN
Staats International, Boston, MA
Cal-Surance Associates, Inc., Torrence, CA
Bruce Lindstrom, IAIA, Denver, CO
James Seitz, Santa Fe, NM
Sam Ballen, La Fonda Hotel, Santa Fe, NM
Arndt and Associates, Tempe, AZ
Baptist Medical Center of Oklahoma, Inc.
St. Vincent’s Hospital, Santa Fe, NM
George Michael, CA/London
ARTIST’S BIOGRAPHY:
Born in Manhattan, Kansas, Tatom began his formal art training at the University of Utah from which he obtained a B.F.A. in 1972 on a full merit scholarship. From there, he studied at the Kansas City Art Institute from 1973 - 1976.
Kirk Tatom was one of the foremost carvers of stone in Santa Fe for nearly 20 years. His success in sculpture was his unique ability to create unquestionably original abstract avian forms. In 1997, he put down the chisel and picked up the paint brush. And he’s again become successful. He’s noted for painting the lush green fields and farms of this country. Tatom gravitates towards the rural where he often finds animals: cows, horses and sheep. In the beginning he strongly identified what he thought of as a “useful” landscape, rich with agricultural resources.
Preparation of the panel requires just the right placing of texture exactly where it belongs. The surface may be sanded, scraped, polished, scored then washed, stained, and glazed, then comes the march of the elements of landscape; a boat, a vineyard, trees, animals. He often has as many as ten paintings in the works at one time. Unlike most painters he starts a group of paintings at one time and finishes them all at the same time.
Just as Tatom pays great attention to the craft of his landscape paintings, he heightens their impact with exquisitely hand carved, gold leafed frames built by his father and brother.
