Gary Passanise

Gary Passanise, American painter, was born in 1951 in Saint Louis, Missouri. The son of a master craftsman working in the marble and tile trades, he was immersed in the building arts throughout his youth. He spent much of his spare time making objects from found materials and eventually began painting in his early teens.

In 1969, at the age of 18, he was drafted during the Vietnam conflict. Without the time, tools and materials of his youth he purchased a 35mm camera and began the study of photography with the eye of a painter. Subject matter became secondary to the study of composition, depth of field, light and shadow, proportion and scale. Photography eventually influenced the early formal development of his paintings.

By 1980 Passanise completed a BFA in Painting and Drawing and an MFA in Painting, Drawing & Printmaking. His first solo exhibit in 1981 drew the attention of Chief Curator Jack Cowart of the St. Louis Art Museum who purchased a large abstract painting for the museum’s permanent collection. This first exhibit of large scale paintings was a critical and commercial success. Passanise continued to exhibit nationally and internationally, gaining recognition for large scale abstract paintings, drawings, prints an...

MFA Painting/Drawing
Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville, 1981

BFA Painting/Drawing
Webster University, St. Louis, 1977

**DENOTES SOLO EXHIBITION

2021
- Rouge/Red, Bruno David Gallery
- Bilingual: Abstract & Figurative, Bruno David Gallery
- The Other Art Fair - Brooklyn, Invitational, Brooklyn Expo, Greenpoint, NY
- Blueprint, Painting, Macklind Appliance, Saint Louis

2020
- Overview 2020, Bruno David Gallery
- Art is Action, Curated by Roseann Weiss, Virtual Exhibit & Auction to benefit Bread & Roses of Missouri

2019
- Small Worlds, Bruno David Gallery
- Art is Labor, Sculpture and Assemblage, Curator Dale Chambers, Arcade Contemporary Art Projects, Webster University, Saint Louis

2018
- Twenty-Seven Nights**, Sculpture, Painting and Prints, Bruno David Gallery
- Heavy, Sculpture, Macklind Appliance, Saint Louis
Overview 2018, Bruno David Gallery

2017
- Drawing From the Collection: 40 Years at Laumeier, Drawing, Laumeier International Sculpture Park, Saint Louis
- New Paintings and Prints**, Bruno David Gallery
- DADAH, Webster University, Faculty Exhibition

2016
- Selected Paintings 1996-2016**, Arcade Contemporary Art Projects, Webster University, Saint Louis
- Gallery Artists, Summer Group Exhibit, Bruno David Gallery

2015
- Volume I, Schema Projects, Brooklyn, NY
- 40 at 100, Cecile R. Hunt Gallery, Web...