Fame & Friendship | Pat York

Pat has exhibited widely, with numerous solo exhibitions presented throughout the world at prestigious institutions including The Hong Kong Film Archive Museum, Kunstalle 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: They are the friends of Pat York, but for many, they feel like friends 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.