Biography
TOM PATTI
Artist Tom Patti, honored in 1987 as Massachusetts Living Treasure by the Foundation on the Arts, has received international attention for a body of work that includes small scale sculptural works, visionary architectural systems, product designs and large architectural art commissions. Published and exhibited throughout the world, his work is included in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Museum of American Art in Washington D.C., the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Louvre in Paris and numerous others. An artist, designer and materials scientist, Mr. Patti has received numerous awards for his sculptural objects and his collaborations with architects on projects using high performance glass and plastics. He has been technical consultant on glass design for Corning, Owens Corning, PPG, Solutia and IBA.
"When I was a kid,” says Patti, “General Electric Company was in my backyard. They were experimenting with man-made lightning and I went by myself to the building where they were doing the test. When I saw it for the first time I knew what I was looking for – that mystery event of discovery between science and creativity"
The son of Italian immigrants, Patti was born in Pittsfield, MA on October 16, 1943. He attended Pratt Institute where he studied with Rowena Reed Kostellow. receiving both his Bachelor’s and Master's Degrees in Industrial Design. While in school, Tom experimented with inflatable plastics, embracing the relationships between art, engineering and architecture, seeking and developing solutions for global housing issues. In the l960's he was involved with E.A.T. (Experiments in Art and Technology), a project co-founded by Robert Rauschenberg to promote collaboration between artists and engineers. During the late 1960s and early ’70s, Patti became interested in glass for its form potential. He pioneered an exploration of its sculptural possibilities combining design theory with his innovative technique of fusing and laminating. This exploration was to become a predominant theme in all of Tom’s work a persistence of vision that has spanned 40 years – the development of formable transparent materials for art, industrial and architectural application.
In 1982, Tom worked closely with Dr. Dan Fox, the inventor of Lexan Plastic, on a site-specific commission for General Electric Plastics World Headquarters. Titled GENIC DORAN DIVIDER, SENTINEL, and now in the collection of the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, the work took two years to complete and enlisted the collaboration of GE scientists and engineers worldwide. By 1993 he was ready to investigate the strength of his synthesized glass on a grand scale, with the purchase of an 18-ton high-pressure oven used by NASA to develop the graphite exterior of the Stealth Bomber. Tom was commissioned to collaborate with architect Cesar Pelli for the new Owens-Corning World Headquarters in Toledo, Ohio.
In 1999 and 2000 Patti completed projects for two museums. SPECTRAL BOUNDARY for the Mint Museum of Craft and Design in Charlotte, North Carolina defines architecture as integral to the museum’s permanent collection. SPECTRAL-LUMA ELLIPSE, an entrance wall and glass doorway at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston enhances the space, allowing the viewer to interact with the art’s changing patterns as they pass through the opening. And in 2001 he created SPATIAL BOUNDARY for the entrance to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Graham Gund.
NIGHT PASSAGE completed in 2004, for the new intermodal station at Roosevelt Avenue and 74th Street in Queens, is a collaboration with the architects FXFowle and the MTA. Tom’s work is seamlessly integrated into the structure of the main curved glass wall of the head house, making it one with the architecture. The blast resistant glass is layered with a plasma composite material to break up light into its spectral components. The third busiest station in the system, over two and one half million people per day experience this artwork. The MTA Arts in Transit considers Tom’s work one of its most successful commissions.
In 2005 Tom completed work for Morton Square, a full city block luxury residence along the waterfront in Greenwich Village. Patti created the townhouse entrances, marquee, vestibule, lobby walls, and glass light sculptures. Featured in the New York Times, LIGHT MONITOR, a sculpture of colorful, suspended glass panels within a clerestory, creates colorful shifting patterns on the large open wall below.
In 2006 Tom completed TOME, a sculpture for the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA. And in 2007, FLIGHT DIALOGUE a work for the Charlotte-Douglas International Airport in North Carolina. Made of high performance, level two security glass and composed of mirrorized, optically reflective surfaces positioned above eye level, the artwork is over 300 feet in length and circumscribes the entire perimeter of the international terminal.
Currently in final design and scheduled for installation in 2009 is MIAMI RAIN, a constantly changing sculptural façade on the north corner and west wall of the 14 story parking garage of the MARQUIS building, a 67 story luxury mixed use building. The elements of color, texture, reflection and refraction continuously shift with the viewing angle and the changing light.
Patti is considered one of the most highly regarded artists working with glass. His art reveals itself in transparent cross-sections that encapsulate veils and patterns within the borders of simple, sophisticated forms. His work reflects a multidisciplinary spirit - encompassing an interest in architecture, design education, engineering, science, and the power of creativity.