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HANK PITCHER

(b. 1949)

CALIFORNIA'S PAINTER: A REDUCTIVIST, GESTURAL VISION OF HOME

by Tim Schiffer and Frank Goss

Every culture has its spokeperson. These cultural voices have many forms. During the Great Depression it was the written word of Steinbeck. It was also the photography of Dorthea Lange. During the Beat Generation it was the poetry of Allen Ginsberg and the stippling of Jackson Pollock. For the contemporary culture of California the voices take many forms. But its chief visual chronographer is Hank Pitcher.

 

Table Of Contents
 

I. BIOGRAPHY

Hank Pitcher's paintings are grounded in a particular sense of place. He was born in Pasadena, California on July 20, 1949, but his family moved to Isla Vista, near Santa Barbara, when he was two years old. When they came to Isla Vista it was an outpost on the beach, and Goleta was a farm town where kids rode their horses down the avenue to buy candy at the store. He was a football star at San Marcos High School and was recruited by big-name universities. Instead of football, he chose to attend the College of Creative Studies, an alternative program within the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) where he now teaches painting. He splits his time between painting and surfing, pursuing each with the commitment and energy of a linebacker.
 

II. AN ANALYSIS OF THE ARTIST'S WORK

This section of the web site is under construction.
 
My Surfboard
2000
68" x 36"
Oil on canvas
Private collection

Pitcher's surfboard paintings are the symbol of California beach culture...strong, definite, positive and euphoric statements about life in California. The surfboard's power as totem is seen in its power to convey identity: surfer, Californian, Hank Pitcher. All are identifiable from this symbolic representation.

Hank Pitcher is the voice of California culture. At the beach, in the surf, approaching the foothills, in the mountains, on the spit of Point Conception, in the crags of Big Sur, at a beach campfire in Santa Barbara, Pitcher paints the icons of California's culture.
 
Three Men Fishing at Refugio
2001
33" x 55.25"
Oil on canvas
Private collection

In Three Men Fishing at Refugio the incoming waves, the afternoon shadows of the palms, the curve of the beach and the bold square of the cliff complete a subtle abstract design. At the center of it all, with their pot bellies and bad haircuts, three fisherman tell dirty jokes and tend their lines, enjoying an afternoon at the beach with a simple, transcendent joy. Pitcher's painting captures the moment like a snapshot, informed by the lessons of a hundred other paintings and infused with the memories of a thousand other afternoons.
 
Dairy Farm
1998
Oil on canvas
Private collection
 

A lesson in "simplicity" and a major work by the artist, Dairy Farm is composed of basic, clear, apparently effortlessly composed elements. The fence, the farm house, the truck, the hills, and the clouds are all stylized, clear representations of a classic California farm. But the clarity and austerity of the painting create an illusion of innocence which is the construct of a painting whose actual complexity can be read on many levels.

 

III. PHOTOGRAPH GALLERY

This section of the web site is under construction.
 

IV. CHRONOLOGY

  • 1949 Born July 20, 1949, Pasadena, California
  • 1971 Graduated UCSB, College of Creative Studies
  • 1971 Met Paul Georges on Long Island and formed lifelong friendship
  • 1971 Lecturer, UCSB, College of Creative Studies
  • 1980 Traded studios with Gregory Botts of Manhattan & attended Figurative Painters Alliance
  • 1985 Married Susan McKaba September 9
  • 1996 Tenured Professor of Art, UCSB
  • 2003 Publication of SURF, book featuring selected paintings from "little" a solo exibition
    		•
     
    Lake Cachuma, Rancho San Marcos
    1997
    24" x 48"
    Oil on canvas
    Private collection
     

    This painting of the vista of slough and marshland near Lake Cachuma, twenty-five miles north of Santa Barbara, demonstrates Pitcher's ability to reduce the landscape while handling a large and complex subject. Even the trees and scrubs are drawn as abstract tiny icons--no individual branches or leaves or structure--just dashes of paint.

     

    V. COLLECTIONS

  • Santa Barbara Museum of Art
  • County of Santa Barbara
  • Syracuse Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York
  • Northern Trust
  • Industrial Bank of Japan
  • Bank of America
  • Citicorp
  • Mobil Oil
  • Gainey Vineyards
    		•
     
    Vollyball At Sunset
    2000
    6" x 14"
    Oil on board
    Private collection

    Silhouetted against the beach and sky, Pitcher's playful characters continue to play volleyball into the evening. A California symbol? Surely. Yet almost atavistic, like early native tribal members enjoying evening sport. Though tiny this simple painting has a strong voice.
     

    VI. THE ARTIST'S THEMES

  • California Beach
  • Architecture
  • Santa Barbara
  • Central Coast Landscape
  • Northern California Landscape
  • One-Hundred Small Paintings
  • Portraiture & Figurative
    		•
     
    2300 Garden Street
    2003
    22.5" x 68"
    Oil on board
    Exhibited: Historic Landmark Show, 2005
    Available
     

    VII. EXHIBITIONS

  • 1970 Esther Bear Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
  • 1973 Orlando Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
  • 1974 Bortolotzo Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
  • 1974 Esther Bear Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
  • 1975 Anapamu Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
  • 1977 College of Creative Studies, UCSB, Santa Barbara, CA
  • 1978 Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
  • 1978 New Media Gallery, Ventura College, Ventura, CA
  • 1979 Meghan Williams Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
  • 1979 Bowdoin Gallery, Bowdoin, ME
  • 1980 Meghan Williams Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
  • 1982 Meredith Niles Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
  • 1985 Delphine Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
  • 1986 Jessica Darraby Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
  • 1987 Jessica Darraby Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
  • 1989 Tatistcheff Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
  • 1991 Cate School, Carpenteria, CA
  • 1992 Tatistcheff Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
  • 1994 Tatistcheff/Rogers Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
  • 1996 Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa Barbara, CA
  • 1998-2001 Downey's, Santa Barbara, CA
  • 2001 Terrance Rogers Fine Art, Santa Monica, CA
  • 2001 Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
  • 2002 "Surf Culture", Laguna Beach Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA
  • 2003 "BIG", Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA.
  • 2003 "little", Sullivan Goss, Montecito, CA.
  • 2003-2004 "8th Annual Small Images Show", Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA.
  • 2004 "Not Just a Pretty Vase: A Comprehensive Exhibition of American Still Life", Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA.
  • 2004 "The Landscape: Old and New, Now and Then", Sullivan Goss, Montecito, CA.
  • 2004 "In Search of America: Art of the American Scene", Sullivan Goss, Montecito, CA.
  • 2004-2005 "Face to Face: A Selection of American Portraits", Sullivan Goss, Montecito, CA.
  • 2005 "Anima Mundi", Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA.
  • 2005 "Scenes of American Labor", Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA.
  • 2006 "Hank Pitcher: New Paintings", Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA.
  • 2007 "Hank Pitcher: Water Gazing", Ventura College, Ventura, CA.
    		•
     

    VIII. PUBLICATIONS

    1. 1. Gangelhoff, Bonnie. "Lure of the Pacific". Southwest Art Volume 34, Number 4, September 2004. Page 110-113.
    2. 2. Colburn, Bolton. Hank Pitcher: SURF
    3. 3. Sullivan Goss, Ltd.; Santa Barbara, 2003.
    4. 4. Lucie-Smith, Edward. Flora: Gardens and Plants in Art and Literature.
    5. 5. Watson-Gupthill; New York, 2001.
    6. 6. Schiffer, Tim. Hank Pitcher: Recent Paintings 2001.
    7. 7. Sullivan Goss, Ltd.; Santa Barbara, 2001.
     
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    1968 John Deere 4020 at Sedgewick.
    2300 Garden Street.
    At the Cliffs, Point Conception.
    Bird Secate.
    Boys and Kayaks on Bird Rock.
    Bradburry Bellyboard at Little Drakes.
    Bulito, Gaviota Coast.
    Coreopsis at Point Conception
    Craig Angell at Rights and Lefts.
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