Barry Fitzgerald – Visual Artist

ARTIST STATEMENT

“My work is driven by the need to discover. It often begins in my sketchbooks, where conscious and subconscious ideas begin to take form. Select compositions and concepts are developed while exploring design possibilities. Texture/pattern relationships, line/shape relationships, and paint application methods have been my current pursuits.

My work also explores visual language. Sometimes a specific message is required in the image, and the pursuit is in seeking a different way to express it. Other times, the content of the images direct the conversation and the discovery of the meanings follows.

Ultimately, the opportunities within the combinations of visual language and image-making methodologies make for a fertile playground to explore. “

BIO

Barry Fitzgerald is a multi-disciplinary artist and visual communicator who loves the challenge of making images that engage intellectually, emotionally, and aesthetically. He uses metaphorical, narrative, and symbolic concepts to explore portrayals of personal, social and cultural observations.

He has been in over 100 juried and invitational exhibitions including shows in New York, Los Angeles, and London. He has received over 140 national and international awards for his work. This year he was selected into 200 Best Illustrators Worldwide, a biennial juried book published by Luerzer’s Archive in Vienna, Austria, for a fourth consecutive time.

His clients include AARP, Ford, Houge Winery, National Public Radio, Collective Arts Brewing, IBM, New York Times, PepsiCo, Playboy Jazz Festival, Verizon Wireless, among others.

Fitzgerald is also a Professor of Illustration at The University of Kansas, and resides in Lawrence, KS.

EDUCATION
State University of New York at Buffalo, MFA Illustration, 1990
State College at Buffalo, BS Design, Magna Cum Laude, 1984
Niagara County Community College, AFA Fine Art, 1982

ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE
The University of Kansas, Professor, Illustration, 2012-present
The University of Kansas, Associate Professor, Illustration, 1999-2012
The University of Kansas, Assistant Professor, Illustration, 1993-1998

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Freelance Illustrator, 1987-present
The Detroit News, Detroit, MI, Features Staff Artist, 1990-1993
Arbitron Inc., Laurel, MD, Graphic Designer, 1986-1987
Mary Byrd Productions, Washington, DC, Senior Graphic Designer, 1985-1986
Ad Resources Inc., Annapolis, MD, Graphic Designer, 1984-1985

AWARDS
Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles, 1997-2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2020
American Illustration, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2016, 2020
Communication Arts Magazine Illustration Annual, Shortlist, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
Lürzer’s 200 Best Illustrators Worldwide 2011/12, 2013/14, 2015/16, 2018/19
3×3 International Illustration Annual, 2010, 2015, 2018
London International Creative Competition, 2013, 2015, 2018
Studio Visit, 2016, 2017, 2018
Society of Illustrators of New York, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2007, 2014, 2017
Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles, 1997-2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2015
University & College Designers Association Design Competition, 1997, 2008, 2011
Creative Quarterly, 2008, 2011
RSVP Competitions, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004
Print Regional Design Annual, 1989-1994, 2000, 2004
Applied Arts magazine, Illustration Annual (pen name as Barion Lörie), 2002
Step-By-Step magazine, Illustration Annual, 1999, 2002
Kansas Artist’s Postcard Series, 1995, 2001
Step-By-Step magazine, Design Annual100, 2000