Troy Passey

ADRIAN TROY NIVOLA PASSEY

27 OCTOBER — 03 DECEMBER 2023

TROY PASSEY TA K E T H I S LO N G I N G

TAYLOE PIGGOTT GALLERY

T R O Y PA S S E Y Troy Passey is an interdisciplinary artist who merges idea with image in his text-based art. He creates conceptual pieces through playful, elemental compositions that utilize words as a visual–in addition to a written–language. In these works, words operate in many ways; some words or phrases become figurative, emerging as horizon lines or objects themselves, while others playfully name, or intuitively explain and narrate the objects drawn by Passey. He considers the titles of his works the key texts to be read, crediting writers ranging from Emily Dickinson to Leonard Cohen, from Rainer Maria Rilke to Robert Frost, to The Cure.

Troy Passey grew up on a farm outside of Paris, Idaho, an avid reader never without a pen or paper in his pocket. In these early years, he religiously jotted down quotes and ideas, ever-gathering what would later become his principal medium. Passey always wanted to be a writer, but “would never call [himself] a writer” because it “was way too precious.” He continued, “I thought, when I write a book, then I’ll call myself a writer.”

While studying English in college, Passey also delved into art history and, later, when writing his master’s thesis on Andy Warhol, he came across words by Warhol which shifted the course of his career. “He said something that changed my life; he said, ‘People are often better at their second love than they are at their first love because you’re way too close to your first love, but, with your second love, you have some distance.’ So, I changed my paradigm and called myself an artist.” His childhood habit of collecting texts, thoughts and simple words, and his appreciation of poetry and prose, unintentionally had been the consummate preparation for what would become his life’s work. Even today, this habit of second nature has become an integral part of Passey’s artistic practice, as he continues to record the words and phrases that he encounters on a daily basis.

Left: Passey’s Boise studio

Although most often based on the scholarship of past writers, Passey’s works are as physical and emotional as they are cerebral. A self-proclaimed “anti-calligrapher”, Passey does not expect viewers to read the entirety of words he uses to build his works (which are often repetitions marked with an intensity that approaches asemic writing); rather, he hopes the words and compositions, as a whole, speak to people on an intuitive, elemental level. His scrawled words are contingent parts of works that are best summed up by their titles. When speaking of his own work and life, Passey once again turns to the gathered words of others: “My work is not autobiographical, rather it is more reportage of the human condition. It is kind of odd; the neon work is some of my most personal work in some ways; ‘Beautawful’ is almost like a Rosetta Stone for me. You know, Joni Mitchell said, ‘Laughing and crying, you know it’s the same release,’ and I hope that my art is about that. That the world is amazing and beautiful, but it can be awful too. You have to accept both.”

Troy Passey lives, teaches, and works in Boise, Idaho. Passey received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Utah State University, where he also studied Art History, in 1993. Passey later received his Master of Arts degree in English from Boise State University in 1997. Passey’s work has been included in four Idaho Triennials. He was a recipient of an Idaho Commission on the Arts Fellowship, and was an inaugural Artist in Residence at the James Castle House in Boise, ID. Passey has had numerous solo exhibitions throughout the American West, including at the Boise Art Museum, Boise, ID; Tayloe Piggott Gallery, Jackson, WY; Boise Contemporary Theater, Boise, ID; Herrett Center, Twin Falls, ID; Eagle Performing Arts Center, Eagle, ID; Sun Valley Center for the Arts, Ketchum, ID; and the Ogle Gallery, Portland, OR. Passey’s work has also been shown in group shows in Jackson Hole, Los Angeles, Boise, Ketchum, Houston, Dallas, Chicago, and Miami, among other locations. In 2023, Passey completed Is Where the Angels Are, four site-specific memorials to those lost during Covid-19 at St Alphonsus Medical Centers located in Boise, ID; Nampa, ID; Ontario, OR; and Baker City, OR. He also has completed KITH & KIN, a collection of sculptures at the James Castle House.

Right: Passey’s Boise studio

TA K E T H I S LO N G I N G

By Leonard Cohen Many men have loved the bells You fastened to the rein And everyone who wanted you They found what they will always want again Your beauty lost to you yourself Just as it was lost to them Oh, take this longing from my tongue Whatever useless things these hands have done Let me see your beauty broken down Like you would do for one you love Your body like a searchlight My poverty revealed I would like to try your charity Until you cry, “now you must try my greed” And everything depends upon How near you sleep to me Just take this longing from my tongue All the lonely things my hands have done Let me see your beauty broken down Like you would do for one your love Hungry as an archway Through which the troops have passed I stand in ruins behind you With your winter clothes, your broken sandal straps I love to see you naked over there Especially from the back

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Oh, take this longing from my tongue All the useless things my hands have done Untie for me your hired blue gown Like you would do for one that you love You’re faithful to the better man I’m afraid that he left So let me judge your love affair In this very room where I have sentenced mine to death I’ll even wear these old laurel leaves That he’s shaken from his head Just take this longing from my tongue All the useless things my hands have done Let me see your beauty broken down Like you would do for one you love Like you would do for one you love

Take This Longing lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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YOURS TO CARRY NOT TO KEEP, 2022 Ink and acrylic on Bristol Vellum 62 x 42 inches

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YOU’RE MAD AND I LOVE YOU, 2020 Ink acrylic and Lenox 100 49 x 38 inches

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UP WITH THE LARKS, 2019 Graphite and Acrylic on Archival Paper 44 x 30 inches

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ALL YOU NEED IS ME, 2021 Ink, graphite, and acrylic on Neutech 25% cotton paper 35 x 23 inches

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TAKE THIS LONGING FROM MY TONGUE - LEONARD COHEN I, 2019 Ink, ink wash, and acrylic on Neutech 25% cotton paper 35 x 23 inches

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TAKE THIS LONGING FROM MY TONGUE - LEONARD COHEN II, 2019 Ink, ink wash, and acrylic on Neutech 25% cotton paper 35 x 23 inches

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TAKE THIS LONGING FROM MY TONGUE - LEONARD COHEN III, 2019 Ink, ink wash, and acrylic on Neutech 25% cotton paper 35 x 23 inches

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REMEMBER, 2022 Graphite and acrylic on Bristol Vellum 24 x 19 inches

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WHAT AM I WITNESSING, 2021 Graphite and acrylic on Bristol Vellum 19 x 24 inches

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WHITE ROSES, 2021 Acrylic on Bristol Vellum 19 x 24 inches

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AH HELL, 2021 Neon, metal support 17 x 30 x 7 1/2 inches

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BEAUTAWFUL, 2021 Neon, metal support 9 1/2 x 22 x 5 1/2 inches

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UGH, 2021 Neon, metal support 13 x 22 x 5 inches

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TROY PASSEY American artist, born in 1967 in Paris, Idaho Lives, teaches and works in Boise, Idaho

EDUCATION 1993 1997

BA, English, Utah State University MA, English, Boise State University

SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2023 2022 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2013 2012 2009 2006 2004 2003 2000

Take This Longing, Tayloe Piggott Gallery, Jackson Hole, WY Quoth the Raven, Boise Contemporary Theater, Boise, ID The Wine Dark Sea, Boise Contemporary Theater, Boise, ID Mixtape, Herrett Center, Twin Falls, ID Woodsmoke, Ming Studios, Boise, ID Denial, Modern Hotel, Boise ID Soft You Now, Gallery Cushing Terrell, Boise, ID Left Unsaid, Boise Art Museum, Boise, ID Pine, Eagle Performing Arts Center, Eagle, ID The Old Grievance / Container Show, Sun Valley Center for the Arts, Ketchum, ID Phooey on Everything, Ogle Gallery, Portland, OR Beautawful, Ogle Gallery, Portland, OR Out Here, Ogle Gallery, Portland, OR Fresh Visions, Boise Art Museum, Boise, ID

SELECTED RESIDENCIES AND FELLOWSHIPS 2018 2016 2009

Inaugural Artist in Residence, James Castle House, Boise, ID Idaho Commission of the Arts Teaching Residency (2012, 2013 & 2016) Fellowship, Idaho Commission on the Arts

PUBLIC WORKS 2023 2019 2017 2012

Is Where the Angels Are – four site-specific COVID Memorials at St Alphonsus Medical Centers located in Boise; ID, Nampa, ID; Ontario, OR; and Baker City, OR KITH & KIN, sculptures at The James Castle House, Boise, ID Infinite Scroll, Modern Hotel, Boise, ID Text-engraved doors and bench, Rodeo Park, Hailey, ID This catalog complements Troy Passey’s exhibition TAKE THIS LONGING 27 OCTOBER - 3 DECEMBER 2023 | Tayloe Piggott Gallery © 2023 All Rights Reserved

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