Mark Bowers

True North - Equity, Surreal Sunset Over a Bridge and Highway

2020

The lush green landscape of Carol Pylant's painting titled "Gallifa Muse" invites us to explore. The Miro Sculpture in the foreground draws our eyes upward toward the mist blanketin...

"True North - Orientation" is a worms-eye view of a jumbled sky bursting with both fireworks and a rainbow. The surreal quality of the imagery makes the viewer question reality. The ellipsed edges confirm the scene as an inner vision rather than a window on the world. The foreground billboards add another dimensional question to the landscape. The painting itself is painted on a handmade wooden panel with beautifully finished edges so no frame is needed. Mark Bowers True North - Orientation oil on panel 9h x 12w in 22.86h x 30.48w cm MJB012 TRUE NORTH PAINTINGS Unconscious systemic biases may guide our actions or direct us---similar to the human construct of “True North”, which holds to coordinate systems. The Earth’s “Magnetic North” moves over time according to polar shifts; flux and correction is enabled by polarity. In these paintings (Privilege, Orientation, Belief, Identity, Equity), I use compositional elements referencing nautical com- passes to suggest that society must navigate not within systems, but naturally through positive relationships and change. I hope that my art represents our present day - but also imparts a dreamful glimpse of hope and faith within. Explanation: A magnetic compass does not point toward the true North Pole of the Earth. Rather, it more closely points toward the North Magnetic Pole of the Earth. The North Magnetic Pole is currently located in northern Canada. It wanders in an elliptical path each day, and moves, on the average, more than forty meters northward each day. Evidence indicates that the North Magnetic Pole has wandered over much of the Earth's surface in the 4.5 billion years since the Earth formed. Mark Bowers- Artist Statement With the depiction of landscape playing such a central role in the history of North American art, it seemed to offer many of the critical possibilities I was looking for, and it felt more and more like something I have always known. Something I could easily apply, stage, and manipulate as a diary. My work consists of small-scale highly detailed landscape paintings. They are inspired by the comfort, trepidation, and beauty found in the mundane Chicago Suburbs. I combine nature, decorative house wares...

"True North - Brief" is a dream-like view of the rising sun turning the deep blue sky into a blaze of orange at the horizon. The surreal quality of the imagery makes the viewer ques...

"True North - Privilege" is a dream-like view of a cloud filled sky yet nothing feels quite real. The ellipsed edges confirm the scene as an inner vision rather than a window on the world. The foreground gives a glimpse of a white structure but we must use our imagination to piece the scene together. The painting itself is painted on a handmade wooden panel with beautifully finished edges so no frame is needed. Mark Bowers True North - Privilege oil on panel 9h x 12w in 22.86h x 30.48w cm MJB011 TRUE NORTH PAINTINGS Unconscious systemic biases may guide our actions or direct us---similar to the human construct of “True North”, which holds to coordinate systems. The Earth’s “Magnetic North” moves over time according to polar shifts; flux and correction is enabled by polarity. In these paintings (Privilege, Orientation, Belief, Identity, Equity), I use compositional elements referencing nautical com- passes to suggest that society must navigate not within systems, but naturally through positive relationships and change. I hope that my art represents our present day - but also imparts a dreamful glimpse of hope and faith within. Explanation: A magnetic compass does not point toward the true North Pole of the Earth. Rather, it more closely points toward the North Magnetic Pole of the Earth. The North Magnetic Pole is currently located in northern Canada. It wanders in an elliptical path each day, and moves, on the average, more than forty meters northward each day. Evidence indicates that the North Magnetic Pole has wandered over much of the Earth's surface in the 4.5 billion years since the Earth formed. Mark Bowers- Artist Statement With the depiction of landscape playing such a central role in the history of North American art, it seemed to offer many of the critical possibilities I was looking for, and it felt more and more like something I have always known. Something I could easily apply, stage, and manipulate as a diary. My work consists of small-scale highly detailed landscape paintings. They are inspired by the comfort, trepidation, and beauty found in the mundane Chicago Suburbs. I combine nature, decorative house wares...

Mark Bowers- Artist Statement With the depiction of landscape playing such a central role in the history of North American art, it seemed to offer many of the critical possibilities I was looking for, and it felt more and more like something I have always known. Something I could easily apply, stage, and manipulate as a diary. My work consists of small-scale highly detailed landscape paintings. They are inspired by the comfort, trepidation, and beauty found in the mundane Chicago Suburbs. I combine nature, decorative house wares, municipal structures, and personal artifacts to hint at current life and future implications in the orchestration of these elements. Each work in the series is a portrait of a search for markers on a journey, an attempt to learn from what is palpable and to appreciate the intangible. The paintings are meant to suggest the truth in the un-idealized moment--the actual truth only exists off the edges of my canvas, off stage, and in the experience of the viewer. Painting the objects in these compositions is like positioning characters on stage in a play, each adding to the dramatization Mark Bowers Little Blue Houses oil on panel 15h x 30w in 38.10h x 76.20w cm MJB008 Mark Bowers b. 1977 St. Joseph, MI Exhibitions 2013 American Painting Today: Physical and Visceral, Krasl Art Center, St. Joseph, MI 2012 Fort Wayne Art Museum, Contemporary Realism Biennial, Fort Wayne, IN Rockford Art Museum Midwestern Biennial, Rockford, IL Ann Brierly Gallery, Winnetka, IL 2009 Art Chicago, Represented by Ann Nathan Gallery, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL Ann Brierly Gallery, Winnetka, IL 2007 Beverly Arts Center Biennial, Chicago, IL Ann Brierly Gallery, Winnetka, IL 2005 Ann Brierly Gallery, Winnetka, IL 2003 Ann Brierly Gallery, Winnetka, IL Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI 2001 The Box Factory Gallery, St. Joseph, MI 2000 John G. Blank Center for the Arts, Michigan City, IN Michigan State...

With the depiction of landscape playing such a central role in the history of North American art, it seemed to offer many of the critical possibilities I was looking for, and it felt...

"Coniferous Sky" By Carl Grauer Oil on canvas 60x48 inches in white floater frame Signed en verso This very tall pine tree across the street stands directly in front of the artists ...

Modern still life painting of a red poppy against a navy blue river landscape "Winter Poppy", painted by Hudson Valley artist, Joseph Maresca, in 2022 oil on wood panel, framed 12 x...

oil on panel Jake Fischer, born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, graduated with a Master of Fine Art from Arizona State University in Drawing and Painting. While at ASU, he was awarded accolades including the Benjamin Wong Fie Scholarship, Eirene Peggy Lamb Scholarship, and the Gerry Grout Award. Fischer then attended the Art Students League of New York's residency program where he received the Ruth Katzman Scholarship. In 2016, Fischer had his first solo exhibition in New York, Between Light, at Island Weiss Gallery and has since notably participated in Into the Night: Contemporary Art and Nocturne Tradition at the Tucson Museum of Art. Interpermeate at Bentley Gallery...

Canadian artist Peter Hoffer is best known for his nostalgic landscapes reminiscent of artists such as John Constable. This is one of a series of 12 portraits of deciduous trees in f...

Away We Go is a thickly textured oil and acrylic painting of three paper airplanes soaring like birds. It is by Hawaii artist, Jason Wright. Jason Wright was born in the United Sta...

Peter Hoffer is known for his romantic, elegant landscapes reminiscent of artists such as John Constable. This is one in a series of 12 atmospheric portraits of single deciduous tree...