| Mark Bryan |
Artist Statement
Ever since I can remember, I've been troubled by the state of things. Maybe it was all that talk about heaven in Sunday school. A perfect world, why isn't it like that here? I feel ripped off. Even the animals didn't eat each other in heaven. Imagine that.
" You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you " Leon Trotsky
Given this beautiful planet, our intelligence, talent and opposable thumbs, one would think that things for us would be a lot better than they are. I suppose I've carried a general disappointment in human nature for quite a while that makes itself apparent in most of my work. It seems to me that in terms of what we do to each other and to our environment, we really are fiddling while Rome burns. Perhaps we are either too smart or too dumb for our own good.
As a result of this perspective, satirical work is the logical direction for me. Humor allows for comment to be made without alienating the viewer. I believe it also shows a larger view and some affection and sympathy for the players in it.
" Mark Twain and I are in very much the same position. We have put things in such a way as to make people who would otherwise hang us, believe that we are joking" George Bernard Shaw
In my paintings I see the world as a cosmic stage for human activity. I'm in the audience like a court reporter taking notes with my sketchbook and brushes, playing the critic, here to observe and make comment.
I usually begin a painting with a beautiful natural landscape, but can't seem to leave it at that. Because of my need to make comment, I feel compelled to fill it up with depictions of absurd human activities and/or violent acts of revenge by Mother Nature. These depictions are full of symbolism, exaggeration and parody, much in the manner of political cartoons. I like to show men involved in their own tiny dramas while oblivious to greater and more powerful forces around them.
" Men go to war because they enjoy it " General John Pershing
Most of my work in the past has had social, religious or political undertones and made comments in a symbolic and general way about the human predicament. It was not aimed at specific individuals or situations, but events in the world and the political direction of this country in the past few years have been alarming to me. I feel that it is a time for artists with a political bent to make stronger statements with a clearer message. I don’t know if this really has much effect on the situation, I hope so, but at least it has a therapeutic value for me and others of like mind seem happy to see their feelings made real visually. I have attempted to retain in the work the fun that can come from satire and parody and at the same time deal with these serious subjects.
Not all my work is satirical and colored with a cynical perspective. When I've had enough of social comment for a while, I change direction and create work that is just for fun or try to explore more positive aspects of our existence.
Apart from all the trouble we cause ourselves, I believe we are immersed in a powerful and beautiful mystery. The fact of our existence is a great riddle to me. Gauguin in his famous painting asks " Whence do we Come? What are We? Whither are we going?†For me, those questions are always worth trying to answer.
Biography
I was born in Southern California in 1950. It was still a nice place to live back then. We lived about five miles from the place where they made the moon rockets.
My father was a paint salesman and my mother was a homemaker, bookkeeper and part time artist. I remember one of her projects was taking prints of Grandma Moses paintings on fabric and carefully stuffing the people and animals with cotton from behind so that they poked out from the surface. I thought they were so cool. She also made felt paintings of people in the bathroom with their butts showing. To this day I still like pictures of some peoples' butts.
Science fiction and the Red Scare were big. During the Cuban missile crisis my mother told me that if I ever saw a real bright flash of light that I should get down low behind something and wait till the blast went by and then come straight home. I'm sure that this kind of atmosphere contributed to my overall paranoia and sense of impending doom that I carry with me to this day.
I had an early inclination for art. I liked to paint war scenes and pirate ships. The girls in my class would come to me and say, "Can you paint a bunny for me? " Little did I know that Bunny Motifs would figure prominently in my later work. Once I made a fake time bomb with dynamite sticks and a real clock that you could wind up. I liked to put it under my bed at night and listen to it until I went to sleep.
I didn't fit in well at school. I still don't. I had a few friends. We thought all the popular people were idiots. We still do. College was better. I wanted to study art but that wasn't a real job so I studied architecture instead. I did just fine until the math got over my head. They say it's a brain thing.
The Hippie movement was right on, Hell no I didn't go! When I told them about the bomb under my bed they shouted at me and made me leave. I pretended that it hurt my feelings, but it didn't. I actually liked it.
Finally I made it to art school. At last I was with people some what like me, I could do my work and the parties were awesome. Probably the most important influence on me were the Chicano artists that I hung out with, (they are famous guys now). I lived with two of them in Echo Park. We used to draw like Banshees late into the night. (Banshees are Irish Mr. Deaths). My advisors at school liked my work, but they said I was an eccentric artist and I was on my own, but that was OK. Everything was OK then. It was beautiful man. It still is, if you don't watch the news.
I met my lovely wife in art school too. She is from Guam. She likes to draw children, cook, play the piano and speak foreign languages. I'm not sure why she tolerates me. We have a son and daughter. A lawyer and a nurse. A reaction I guess. We live on the Central Coast of California. A little bit out of town in a house that we built years ago. I wanted to live in town but the townspeople wouldn't have me. It's very beautiful here. I keep telling myself that. We are lucky if you consider the possibilities. I keep telling myself that too.
Mark Bryan is exclusively represented in Santa Fe at POP Gallery--original and graphic works debuts June 2008 with show in October 2008 titled Visual Subversion.
Resume
Education
1968-1970, School of Architecture, California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, Ca.
1970-1972, BFA, Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, Ca.
1972-1974, MFA, Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles Ca.
LIST OF EXHIBITIONS 1988-2006
Solo Exhibitions
Steynberg Gallery, San Luis Obispo Ca., oct/Nov, 2007
Carlotta's Passion, Los Angeles Ca., March 2007
Steynberg Gallery, San Luis Obispo Ca., August 2006
Solomon Dubnick Gallery, Sacramento Ca., Oct. 2005
Steynberg Gallery, San Luis Obispo Ca., July 2005
Solomon Dubnick Gallery, Sacramento Ca., May 2004
The Accidental Death of a Terrorist ( in conjunction with the play)
Cal Poly State university, Feb.2004
Solomon Dubnick Gallery, Sacramento Ca., June 2002
Solomon Dubnick Gallery, Sacramento Ca., March 2001
August Editions, San Luis Obispo Ca., Sept. 2000
Solomon Dubnick Gallery, Sacramento Ca., Oct. 1999
August Editions, San Luis Obispo Ca., Dec. 1998
Michael Himovitz Gallery, Sacramento Ca. Aug. 1997
Michael Himovitz Gallery, Sacramento Ca. May 1995
Del Mano Gallery, Brentwood Ca., Jan. 1994
The Scarlet Palette, Cambria Ca. April 1994
Michael Himovitz Gallery, Sacramento Ca. July 1994
Artworks Gallery, Riverside Ca. Sept. 1994
Artworks Gallery, Riverside Ca. Sept. 1993
The Art Center, San Luis Obispo Ca. April 1992
Center for Art and Culture, Grover Beach Ca. June 1992
Williams/Lamb Gallery, Long Beach Ca. Aug 1992
Artworks Gallery, Riverside Ca. May 1992
Sonrisa Gallery, Hollywood Ca. March 1991
Artworks Gallery, Riverside Ca. June 1990
Schwartz/Cierlak Gallery, Santa Monica Ca. Oct. 1989
Two Person Shows
Red Dot Gallery, Los ANgeles Ca., May 2007
Raymond Lawrence Gallery, Atlanta Ga. Feb. 1999
Williams/Lamb Gallery, Long Beach Ca. June 1991
Schwartz /Cierlak Gallery, Santa Monica Ca. June 1991
Artworks Gallery, Riverside Ca. Aug. 1989
Selected Group Exhibitions
Limited Addiction Gallery, Denver, Co. march 2007
"Artful Jesters show" Pence Gallery, Davis, Ca. jan/feb. 2007
"Artful Jesters show" Brattleboro museum, Vermont, april 2006
"Artful Jesters show" Soho, New York, NY, February 2006,
"Cannibal Flower" shows, Los Angeles Ca. 2006, 2005, 2004, 5
"50 Caliber" Tower Gallery, Sacramento Ca. july 200450
La Luz De Jesus, Hollywood , Ca. March 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002
Political Art Show, San Luis Obispo Art Center, Feb. 2004
Gann gallery, Tokyo , Japan March 2001
"Between the Lines" Artist's Guild, San Luis Obispo Ca. Nov. 2000
Arternatives Gallery, San Luis Obispo Ca. May 1996
Artworks Gallery, Riverside Ca. Nov. 1996
"The Urn Show" Michael Himovitz Gallery, Sacramento Ca., Sept. 1995
"Deception and the Media", Center for Art and Culture, Grover Beach Ca. April 1995
"The Game Show" Riverside Museum of Art, Riverside Ca. July 1994
"Twisted Tales", John Thomas Gallery, Santa Monica Ca. Dec 1993
"Human Education Against Lies", Center for Art and Culture, Grover Beach Ca. May 1993
"Night Stories", Riverside Art Museum, Riverside Ca. June 1993
"Small Works", Williams /Lamb Gallery, Long Beach Ca. Jan. 1992
"Rites and Rituals", The Folk Tree, Pasadena Ca. March 1992
"Echoes of Surrealism" Univ. San Diego , San Diego Ca. Oct. 1990
Overreact Gallery, Long Beach Ca. Aug. 1989
Ivey Gallery, Los Angeles Ca. Nov. 1989
Performances
"The Screaming Bunny", Steynberg Gallery, San Luis Obispo Ca. August 2006
"The Screaming Bunny", August Editions, San Luis Obispo Ca. June 2000
"The Screaming Bunny", August Editions, San Luis Obispo Ca. Sept. 1999
"The Screaming Bunny", Building on the Blvd. Theater, Sacramento Ca. Nov. 1997
"The Screaming Bunny", Linnaea's, San Luis Obispo Ca. Oct. 1996
"The Landscape of Hell", Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo Ca. June 1995
"The Father of Lies", CAMA production, San Luis Obispo Ca. May 1994PUBLICATIONS
2000, December New American Paintings, West Coast, Issue # 31
1998, December New American Paintings, West Coast, Issue # 19
ESSAYS, BOOKS
2004, Book, Artful Jesters, by Nicholas Roukes, spring 2004
1992, Visions Magazine, essay
NEWS & MAGAZINES
2007, Juxtapoz Magazine, interview, Jan. issue
2007, Geez Magazine, cover art, "East of OZ" fall issue
2007, The Fifth Estate, cover art, "Fat Man and Mr. Death" spring issue
2007, Pasadena Weekly, cover/article, "Mona and the Metal Men" march 1st, 07
2007, Miz Radio, Streetlevel.biz, interview, feb.,
2006, Animal New York Magazine, interview, 4/29/06
2006, Hopedance magazine, cover illustration "Venus and the Burning Temples "
2006, Animal New York Magazine, interview, 4/29/06
2006, Adbusters magazine (illustration for TV turnoff Week) 2/1/06
2006, Telgram Tribune San Luis Obispo Ca., article by Pat Pemberton, 2/19/06
2005/06, Adbusters magazine (three illustrations) special end of year issue
2005, Hopedance magazine, article by Natasha Dalton
2005, Hopedance magazine, cover illustration "Uncle Sam"
2005, The Sacramento News and Review
2005, New Times, San Luis Obispo, Ca.," It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, World (6/30/05)
2004, The Sacramento News and Review
2004, Central Coast Magazine, Avila Beach , Ca., article (12/1/04)
2003, New Times, San Luis Obispo, Ca., article (1/3/03)
2002, The Sacramento News and Review
1999, Creative Loafing, Atlanta, Ga., review (4/3/99)
1998, New Times, San Luis Obispo, Ca., article (12/17/98)
1998, Five Cities Times-Press-Recorder, Arroyo Grande, Ca., article, (12/11/98)
1995, Sacramento Bee, Sacramento, Ca., review (5/21/95)
1994, Press Enterprise, Riverside, Ca. article, (10/16/94)
1994, Sacramento Bee, Sacramento, Ca., review (7/17/94)
1992, L.A. Times, Inland Empire, review (5/27/92)
1992, Telegram Tribune, "Focus", San Luis Obispo, Ca., article (4/11/92)
1991, New Times, San Luis Obispo, Ca., article (10/3/91)
1990, L.A. Times, Inland Empire, review (3/11/90)
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