Tony Fitzpatrick, a fixture of Chicago’s art scene, died at age 66 on October 11. Fitzpatrick was an artist, printmaker, poet, writer, actor, gallerist, and tireless booster of his native city. He died of a heart attack at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago while awaiting a double lung transplant, said his family.
Fitzpatrick’s visual art, which encompassed collage, printmaking, and painting, combined vintage illustrations and tattoo art with words, numbers, musical notes, and, very often, drawings of flowers, dogs, and birds. With its strong graphic presence, it harked back to the work of Chicago Imagist artists of an earlier generation like Christina Ramberg, Ray Yoshida, and Roger Brown.
Of his collages, critic Roberta Smith once wrote in the New York Times, “On the surface these densely knit concoctions of words and images are nothing new; in fact, they seem almost nostalgic. But they can win you over with their emotion and erudition, both illuminating the greatness of Chicago, as well as with their physical solidity.”
His work is in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the National Gallery of Art.
In addition to his own creative endeavors, Fitzpatrick was also a great supporter other people’s art, running a series of Chicago galleries over the years, including The Edge, World Tattoo—where the legendary Chicago punk band The Mekons once performed—and The Dime.
His latest book, The Sun at the End of the Road: Dispatches From an American Life, was one that he hoped would counter President Donald Trump’s recent description of Chicago as a “hellhole,” he told Block Club Chicago.
Fitzpatrick is survived by his wife, Michele, and their children, Max and Gabrielle Fitzpatrick.
