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Pat York: Fame & Friendship

May 18 - December 1, 2024

Images from left to right:  May Ling Kopecky Self Portrait - Multiple Sclerosis and My Body, 2022 colored pencil, ink, and graphite on Dura-Lar and graph paper; 71" x 30" ︎︎︎Image description: The portrait of a woman with brown hair is made of drawings of various parts of her body created using various techniques. Next to each drawing is a description of the portaied symptoms.  Benjamin Merrit Care is, 2020                                                             etching, aquatint, drypoint, sugarlift, spitbite; image 18 x 24”, full sheet 22 x 30”           ︎︎︎Image description: One black and white print, consisting of “care is” written in white on the top half, and a white rectangle on the bottom half. The text is sitting on a dark field of texture and gestural marks, the blank rectangle consists of faint texture.  Kym McDaniel Screenshot from Exit Strategy #1, Exit Strategies Series, 2017-2021 video series; 40:23 min ︎︎︎Image description: Silver spoons arranged on a table

Steve Martin, 1984, Photo by Pat York


Pat York: Fame & Friendship

Portraits of 20th Century Icons

On view Saturday, May 18 - Sunday, December 1, 2024


Rochester Art Center is proud to present a photographic exhibition by Pat York of celebrated actors, directors, artists, writers and visionaries that she admires. Pat has exhibited widely, with numerous solo exhibitions presented throughout the world at prestigious institutions including the Hong Kong Film Archive Museum, Kunsthalle Museum in Mannheim, Germany, the Marble Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, the Nostic Palace in Prague, and more. She has been featured in as many group exhibitions from New York and Jerusalem to Tokyo and Abu Dhabi.


Pat York was born in Jamaica and has traveled widely all her life. Her career started as a fashion editor for Vogue before becoming the travel editor and photographer for Glamour. While Pat has gone on to explore the concept of being unmasked through photography of nudes and cadavers, her large-scale portraits of celebrities exhibited at Rochester Art Center invite the viewer to focus on joy and friendship. 


Steve Martin, Whoopi Goldberg, Tennessee Williams, Barbra Streisand, Jasper Johns: Their friendships have meant much to Pat. For so many of us, the people she has photographed feel like good acquaintances because we have lived with their art throughout our lives. Her methods are disarming, extracting warmth where few others could, for instance through her animated photography dual with Andy Warhol. 


Pat relocated to Rochester in 2022 with her husband, acclaimed actor Michael York, who has written about his diagnosis with Amyloidosis and their appreciation of Mayo Clinic in recognizing and treating the rare disease. Pat is currently working on her fifth book.


Pat York: Fame & Friendship will be on view at the Rochester Art Center from May 18 - December 1, 2024. An opening reception with light refreshments will be held on Friday, May 24th from 4-6pm with remarks presented at 4:30pm. 


Opening Reception

Friday, May 24, 2024, 4 - 6:00 PM | Remarks at 4:30 PM

Light refreshments 

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