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SANTA BARBARA — Following up on her wildly successful 2024 show Nighthawks, Santa Barbara artist PATRICIA CHIDLAW returns with a major new body of work to be shown for the first time in the gallery’s largest space. Blue Room features eighteen new paintings of places suspended between memory and observation.
The exhibition’s title refers to an old school cocktail lounge in Burbank, California, a place that has long captured Chidlaw’s imagination. But this exhibition is about much more than a single location. It’s about the vibe of a rapidly disappearing world that the artist returns to again and again. Her paintings take us into spaces that are undeniably vintage, and just outside the spotlight, where atmosphere becomes the main character. Think rainy streets illuminated by reflected neon. Lanterns glowing in Chinatown. A carousel standing still before the crowds arrive. A solo twilight swim. A ferris wheel waiting in quiet anticipation. Empty diners, movie marquees, motel signs, and storefronts all become stages for absent actors that exude a Blue Room vibe. Whether depicting familiar landmarks or anonymous streets, Chidlaw transforms ordinary places into scenes that feel timeless, and often cinematic.
PATRICIA CHIDLAW came to Santa Barbara to earn her bachelor’s degree in fine art from UCSB. She put down roots in Santa Barbara, and has been exhibiting widely throughout California for decades. Sullivan Goss has represented the artist since 2016, but started working with her in 2007 for the Gallery’s THE URBAN MYTH exhibition.
Patricia Chidlaw will be present at the 1st Thursday reception on September 3rd.Come meet the artist and celebrate this new body of work.
Image above: Blue Room, 2026 30 x 24 inches | Oil on canvas
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