Pat Oleszko
(b. 1947, Detroit, MI; lives and works in New York, NY)
Gallery Exhibitions
— Pat’s Imperfect Present Tense, 2024
Current
— How We Work: Smack Mellon at 30, Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, September 2026
Upcoming
— Fool Disclosure, Museum Cobra, Amstelveen, The Netherlands, November 2026
Selected Press
— Vogel, Wendy, “Pat Oleszko’s ‘Fool Disclosure’”, e-flux Criticism, March 2026
— Krasinski, Jennifer, “Pat Oleszko”, 4Columns, February 2026
— Halperin, Julia, “The art world once dismissed Pat Oleszko — now her inflatable sculptures are a museum sensation”, The
Financial Times, December 2025
— Muskovics, Gyula, “Everything was perfect: Interview with Pat Oleszko”, The Kitchen: On Mind, August 2024
Supplementary
— Mudrick, Steven, “DownPat”, Vimeo, 2001
— “When I Was 30”, T Magazine, June 2024
Installation view, Whitney Biennial 2026 at Whitney Museum of American Art, 2026
Pat Oleszko, Blowhard, 1995, nylon and blower, 222 x 226 x 408 inches (563.9 x 574 x 1036.3 cm)
Installation view, 2026 Annual Exhibition at The Campus, Hudson, 2026
Installation view, Art Basel Miami Beach, 2025
Installation view, Art Basel Miami Beach, 2025
Installation view, Pat’s Imperfect Present Tense at David Peter Francis, 2024
Installation view, Pat’s Imperfect Present Tense at David Peter Francis, 2024
Womb With A View, 1990, nylon, blower, 106 x 202 x 216 inches (269.2 x 513.1 x 548.6 cm)
Pasta Madonna, 1999, pasta, cardboard, fabric, fiberfill, 36 x 36 x 84 inches (91.4 x 91.4 x 213.6 cm)
Handbag-To-Go, 1990, fabric, metal, fiberfill, 8 x 27 x 8 inches (20.3 x 68.6 x 20.3 cm)
The Six Pat, 1986, mixed media, 120 x 84 x 36 inches
stills from Footsi, 1979, single channel video, 4:50s
Mike Hammer, 1980, foam, fabric, wire, paint, 76 x 22 x 42 inches (193 x 55.9 x 106.7 cm)
stills from Handyman’s Tool Jest, 1980, single channel video, 5:24s
Happy Face, 1989, nylon and blower, 80 x 52 x 30 inches (203.2 x 132.1 x 76.2 cm)
Penal Colony (2), 1994, nylon and blower, 84 x 96 x 36 inches (213.4 x 243.8 x 91.4 cm)
Libertease A Broad, 1992, fabric, foam core, dolls, fiberfill, 48 x 24 x 84 inches (121.9 x 61 x 213.6 cm)
The Coat of Arms, 1972, fabric, fiberfill, styrofoam, 82 x 33 x 30 inches (208.3 x 83.8 x 76.2 cm)
The Coat of Arms, 1972
The Handmaiden, 1975, fabric, fiberfill, styrofoam, rhinestones, 78 x 56 x 49 inches (198.1 x 142.2 x 124.5 cm)
The Handmaiden, 1975
Three Bozos, 1985, nylon, blower, 108 x 258 x 120 inches (274.3 x 655.3 x 304.8 cm)
Installation view, Pat’s Imperfect Present Tense at David Peter Francis, 2024
The Padettes of P.O. Town, 1977, fabric, fiberfill, leather, wood, 74 x 49 x 27 inches (188 x 124.5 x 68.6 cm)
The Padettes of P.O. Town, 1977
Installation view, Pat’s Imperfect Present Tense at David Peter Francis, 2024
Udder Delight, 1989, nylon, blower, 82 x 48 x 74 in (208.5 x 122 x 188 cm)
Red Dick, 1993, nylon and blower, 84 x 96 x 36 inches (213.4 x 243.8 x 91.4 cm)
A/Bout Dissent, 2014, cardboard, string, plastic, fabric, 16 x 10 1/2 x 10 1/2 inches (40.6 x 26.7 x 26.7 cm)
Picnic-To-Go (MacDowell), 2007, fabric, turf, glass, cardboard, 17 x 12 1/2 x 12 inches (43.2 x 31.8 x 30.5 cm)
Barn/Dance (the Horses), 2014, fabric, wood, 18 x 17 x 9 1/2 inches (45.7 x 43.2 x 24.1 cm)
Parrot Wordhouse Chapeau, 2024, scrabble tiles, board and wood, cardboard, dictionary, fake birds, pencil, 13 x 11 x 16 inches (33 x 27.9 x 40.6 cm)
Darwin’s Nightmare: Pa’t Too, 2013, mixed media, dimensions variable, 9-hour durational performance in New Smyrna Beach, FL
Patty Cake, 1972, spread in Esquire Magazine
Patty’s Inferno, 2008, leaves, branches, wood, feathers, fabric, fiberfill, cardboard, dimensions variable
Opera Singer (Inflation: The Air Apparent), 1980, nylon, blower, 120 x 96 x 48 inches (304.8 x 243.8 x 121.9 cm)
Knee-o-Fashism: Wendy Wear-With-All and Her Sole Sister, Ms. Trixie, 1994, fabric, plastic, glass, wire, foam, feathers, cardboard, makeup, 46 x 30 x 13 inches (116.8 x 76.2 x 33 cm)
Installation view, Fool for Thought, Women’s Studies Research Center at Kniznick Gallery, Brandeis University, Waltham, 2016
Love(sic) Cactus, 2010, industrial carpet, plastic planter, zip ties, 79 x 48 x 33 inches (200.7 x 121.9 x 83.8 cm)
Stumpy, 2010, felt, cardboard, foam, 96 x 72 x 22 inches (243.8 x 182.9 x 55.9 cm)
Big Foots, 1995, nylon and blower, each: 156 x 114 x 48 inches (396.2 x 289.6 x 121.9 cm)
The Trojan Horse, 1987, nylon, blower, 108 x 210 x 48 inches (274.3 x 533.4 x 121.9 cm)
stills from Where Fools Russian, 1985, single channel video, 6:33s
Temple of Been Here, 1999, nylon, blower, 144 x 240 x 132 inches (365.8 x 609.6 x 335.3 cm)
Ice-ing The Cake, 1977, nylon and fabric, dimensions variable, Bethesda Fountain in Central Park, New York
Cat, 1990, nylon and blower, 132 x 156 x 48 inches (335.3 x 396.2 x 121.9 cm)
Masked Mandate, 2023, face masks, surgical gloves, ephemera, interfacing, 48 x 24 x 84 inches (121.9 x 61 x 213.6 cm)