Reflections on Medieval Pittsburgh I was going to wait until I had finished a new painting before posting, but didn’t want to lose my thoughts. I think more people got to see my work because of this show than any of my previous shows. I think hundreds of people came through- maybe 500 people- which…
Author: nsv5001
Medieval Pittsburgh at Irma Freeman
I’ve been working on this Medieval Pittsburgh show for three years. I’ve been thinking about the medieval categories like knights, kings, bloodsport, etc. that still linger around despite the intervening enlightenment, world wars, and physical distance. There are pieces of Medieval Europe that are alive in Pittsburgh even though Pittsburgh doesn’t have a Medieval past….
Greed (2024)
We’re back with a painting based on a medieval morality painting. Check it out below: I wanted to make a painting that reflected how greed works in Pittsburgh in 2025. It’s hard not to think of the giant, predatory, technically non profit health companies that operate here in Pittsburgh. I had a friend work in…
Scripture, Illuminated with Pittsburgh
Psalm 1: 1-3 Making this piece there was several things I wanted to do: First, I wanted to honor and meditate on this piece of scripture. Second, I wanted to stylistically circle back to a chunkier, darker style as part of this medieval show. Last, I wanted to make sure I captured a range of…
Medieval Life on the Isle of Pittsburgh
Built off of medieval maps and a follow up to my Mappa Mundi, this responds to the Catalan Atlas from 1375: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalan_Atlas I wanted to create a sense of modern Pittsburgh as medieval, so I included some modern buildings that looked medieval, some modern buildings adjusted to be made medieval (downtown), some medieval buildings providing…
Carnegie, Founding King of Pittsburgh
Working on this medieval Pittsburgh show, I wanted to represent the myths of Pittsburgh that function in how we talk/think about our city. I think that for many of us, the story of Pittsburgh really starts with Carnegie. There’s an idea about fort duquesne and pre- industrial Pittsburgh, but that’s about as foggy as Roman…
Knights of the Gridiron
This painting is a combination of a Steelers football game with the 14th century battle of Crecy. The Cardinals/French are attacking the defending Steelers/English. I think a lot about the symbolic role that football plays in our society. I think it’s hard to miss how violent football stays, but I think admitting the violence prompts…
Baseball
When I was growing up, there was a game I played at my grandma’s called Kerplunk. You’d load up marbles in a tube on rods that poked through the tube. You’d then remove the sticks slowly until all the marbles fell through. I feel like managing my energy to paint is like playing Kerplunk, with…
Every City is Jerusalem
This is the first major painting I’ve done for what will be a show at Irma Freeman Center in 2025. I think this condenses the range of thoughts and feelings I have about Pittsburgh as a medieval world into a strong visual statement. The simplest way I can put it into words is that I…
Going Medieval
I’m back to painting after the show. It’s been hard to find a good rhythm again, but I’ve started to pick up steam. I wanted to record some of my initial thoughts about my new project direction: The Medieval World. I think there are a few reasons I want to try this and I’ll list…
What a Show!
Thanks to everyone who has come out to see it over the last month and a half. I really appreciated having a packed opening night. It’s good to know that I have an audience to make art for. After the opening night, I did an interview with the pittsburgh orbit: https://pittsburghorbit.com/2022/08/18/the-blight-stuff-nathan-van-patters-bound-by-blight/ Really well written- and…
Welcome! (Public Source Article)
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Nathan Van Patter's Art 