Biography

Patrick Quarm interlaces cultural symbols from diverse eras and communities into multilayered works that invite viewers to explore from multiple perspectives. Through his paintings, Quarm investigates themes of cultural authenticity and hybridity. Painting his subjects directly onto layered and spliced African print fabrics, he juxtaposes the realism of his portraits with the geometric abstraction of the textiles, emphasizing the fluid nature of identity. His subjects—ranging from self-portraits to family groups—engage in a dynamic dialogue both with each other and with the patterned fabrics, emerging from or blending into the intricate designs.

 

Quarm holds a BFA in Painting from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana, and an MFA from Texas Tech University. His recent institutional exhibitions include presentations at the Moody Center for the Arts, Houston, TX; Kalamazoo Institute of Art, Kalamazoo, MI; Kunstraum Potsdam, Berlin, DE; Trout Museum of Art, Appleton, WI; Contemporary Art Museum Plainview, Plainview, TX; and the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, Grand Rapids, MI. Quarm’s work is held in public collections such as the Syracuse University Museum, Kalamazoo Institute of Art, and Kemper Museum. He has exhibited with prominent galleries such as Gagosian, London, UK; Sean Kelly, New York, NY; Ross+Kramer Gallery, New York, NY; and Albertz Benda, New York, NY. He participated in the Red Bull Artist Residency in Detroit (2019) and was awarded the prestigious NXTHVN Fellowship (2021–2022). Quarm currently lives and works between Ghana and the United States.

Works
Exhibitions
Art Fairs
Bibliography

PATRICK QUARM

Born in 1988 in in Sekondi, GH
Currently lives and works between Ghana and the United States

 

EDUCATION

2018          MFA Painting and Drawing, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX

2012          BFA Painting, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and

                    Technology, Kumasi, GH

 

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS 

Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, MI

Syracuse University Art Museum, Syracuse, NY
Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO

 

SELECTED SOLO AND TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2024          Phantoms in Familiar Terrains, albertz benda, New York, NY         

                     SILHOUETTES: Tracing Memory, Artpace, San Antonio, TX

 

2020          Salvaged Imperial, albertz benda, New York, NY

 

2019            Patrick Quarm: Paradox: Surfaces of Self, N’Namdi

                      Contemporary, Miami, FL
                      Conrad Egyir & Patrick Quarm: Anansesem,

                       albertz benda, New York

2018             Parallel Identities: Patterns of Place, Satellite Gallery,

                       Lubbock, TX

 

2017              There is Only One Side, CASP Studio 4, Lubbock, TX.

                        Curated by Victoria Marie Bee

 

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2024              Space We Exist, Curated by Larry Ossei-Mensah, Heather

                         Guidio Fine Art, Greenwich, CT
                         Spring International Artist in Residence, Curated by

                         Larry Ossei-Mensah, Artpace, San Antonio, TX
                         Neo-Custodianss, Woven Narratives of Heritage, Cultural

                          Memory, and Belonging, Bemis Center, Omaha, NE

 

2023                Narrative Threads, Fiber Art Today, Moody Center for the Arts

                           – Rice University, Houston, TX
                           Rites of Passage, Curated by Peju Oshin, Gagosian,

                            London, UK
                            Present 23, Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH
                            Skilled Labor: Black Realism in Detroit, Cranbrook Art

                            Museum, Detroit, MI
                            Filling in the Pieces in Black, Saatchi Gallery, Brussels, DE

 

2022                 Unmasking Masculinity for the 21st Century, Kalamazoo         

                            Institute of Art, Kalamazoo, MI
                            Undercurrents, Sean Kelly Gallery, New York, NY
                             Family Ties, David Klein Gallery, Detroit, Michigan

 

2021                   ONTOLOGY, Ross and Kramer Gallery, New York, NY
                             Unraveled. Restructured. Revealed: Where Contemporary                                      Art and Diverse Perspectives Intersect, Trout Museum of

                             Art, Appleton, WI

                             THIS IS AMERICA, Kunstraum Potsdam, Berlin, DE

 

2020                   Fragmented Bodies, albertz benda, New York, NY
                              Translating Valence, Urban Institute of Contemporary Arts,

                              Grand Rapids, MI
                              More is More, Contemporary Art Museum Plainview,

                              Plainview, TX
                              BLACK VOICES/ BLACK MICROCOSM, CFHILL,

                              Stockholm, SE
                              Insight, Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London, UK

 

2019                    SNOW DAY, Thierry Goldberg Gallery, New York, NY.
                              Invitational Exhibition, Contemporary Art Museum

                              Plainview, Plainview, TX


2018                    HOMEMADE, Curated by McArthur Binion, Library Street Art

                              Collective, Detroit, MI
                              PLACE, Curated by Asia Hamilton, Norwest Gallery,

                              Detroit, MI
                              Oso Bay Biennial XX: Realism Redux, Texas A&M University, 

                              Corpus Christi, TX
                              Rising Eyes of Texas, Curated by Rainey Knudson, Rockport

                              Center for the Arts, Rockport, TX
                              West Meets West: Illuminated Figures, Caviel Museum of

                              African America History, Lubbock, TX.


2016                    Annual MFA Show, Landmark Gallery, Lubbock, TX


2015                     Annual MFA Show, Landmark Gallery, Lubbock, TX

2013                     Art, Trade &Technology Fair, K.N.U.S.T Museum,

                               Kumasi, GH

 

2012                     End of Year, K.N.U.S.T Museum, Kumasi, GH

 

2011                      Illumination, K.N.U.S.T Museum, Kumasi, GH
                               Art, Trade &Technology Fair, K.N.U.S.T Museum,

                               Kumasi, GH


AWARDS & RESIDENCIES

2019                     Red Bull House of Art Artist in Residence, Detroit, MI


2018                     Thomas ‘Curry’ Roberts- Regent Endowment Art

                               Scholarship, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX


2017                     Alan and Lee Ann White Regents Endowment Visual &                                           Performing Arts, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX

                              Graduate Fellowship Award, Texas Tech University,

                               Lubbock, TX


2016                     Graduate Fellowship Award, Texas Tech University,

                               Lubbock, TX
                               Helen Devitt Jones Talent Based Scholarship, Texas Tech

                               University, Lubbock, TX


2015                     Graduate Fellowship Award, Texas Tech University,

                               Lubbock, TX
                               Helen Devitt Jones Talent Based Scholarship, Texas Tech

                               University, Lubbock, TX


2006                    Visual Art Student Award, Prempeh College, Kumasi, GH