2026
Juxtaposing the faces of iconic celebrities with patterns reminiscent of quilting and folk art, Robert Mars (b. 1969) considers the many facets of American popular culture through the lens of advertising.
In Mars’s mixed-media works, brand names are collaged beneath the visages of mid-century stars such as Elvis, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe and Jackie Kennedy, with neon lighting and shiny coats of resin on wood panels lending each piece the allure of a covetable consumer object.
Born in New Jersey, Mars studied at the Parsons School of Design and worked for a time as a graphic designer. His cultural mash-ups draw on imagery from his collection of vintage magazines. Combining enlarged Xerox transfers and boldly painted colors in several built-up layers, his works recall the messy remixing of everyday objects by Robert Rauschenberg as well as the explorations of mass reproduction and fame by Andy Warhol. The shape of a Chanel No. 5 bottle, a Louis Vuitton logo and a photograph of Audrey Hepburn are all plucked from mass media as relics of Americana and the obsession with luxury. Distressing the surfaces of the pieces, Mars gives them a timeworn texture, like an old advertisement that might be found on the wall of a roadside gas station, but with a surreal quality in their recontextualized subjects.
The stars and mass-media material in Mars’s work mostly have origins in the 1950s and ’60s, an age that saw the rise of celebrity endorsements during a postwar economic boom in which there were plenty of novel new products to promote. An image of Jackie Kennedy is overlaid with ad copy for Dior; a photograph of a victorious Muhammad Ali is joined with Champion Spark Plugs typography. The nostalgia here is for commerce as much as it is for people who became a brand. In the artist’s dynamic collages, the lines between what, or who, is being packaged and sold are blurred.
Mars has produced commissions for Coca-Cola, was a featured artist for a project with Kari Whitman Interiors and was chosen in 2015 for the cover of Neiman Marcus’s May Book. He has exhibited at the Evansville Museum of Art, Coral Springs Museum of Art and elsewhere.
Find Robert Mars mixed-media works, paintings and other art on 1stDibs.
How Do U Want It (Chanel)
By Robert Mars
Located in Napa, CA
Robert Mars’ graphic compositions and rich colors provide an ideal medium in which to explore his fascination with the Golden Age of American popular culture and the icons of the 195...
Resin, Panel
I Wish I (Dom Perignon)
By Robert Mars
Located in Napa, CA
Robert Mars’ graphic compositions and rich colors provide an ideal medium in which to explore his fascination with the Golden Age of American popular culture and the icons of the 195...
Resin, Panel
Aura Of Love
By JD Hansen
Located in Napa, CA
jd Hansen creates art that explores the juxtaposition of vulnerability and strength using the human and animal form. Her work excavates the intricacies of human psychology, non-verba...
Mixed Media
From Americas Best Loved (Marilyn)
By Robert Mars
Located in Napa, CA
Robert Mars’ graphic compositions and rich colors provide an ideal medium in which to explore his fascination with the Golden Age of American popular culture and the icons of the 1950’s and 60’s. Drawing inspiration from the near-mythical fame that surrounded celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe or Audrey Hepburn before the instant and all-encompassing presence of the internet, Mars’ daring approach creates paintings with a nostalgic yet innovative vintage quality. Mars begins by defining borders and background planes of color with sheets of brown paper and then proceeds to layer paint and vintage paper ephemera. He selectively sands segments of the layers, allowing specific portions of the underpainting to shine through, creating the sensation that the viewer is getting glimpses through a window into the Golden Age of America. By incorporating actual pieces of print from the eras he so adores and sealing it all under shining, impenetrable resin, Mars’s artworks transform into physical remembrances of a period in America’s past so loved and idolized, yet will forever remain trapped in history. A graduate of Parsons School of Design in New York, his artwork was selected for the Absolut Vodka Blank campaign alongside Damien Hirst, and his largest sized piece to date was acquired by Philip Morris/Altria for their corporate headquarters in Virginia. In 2015 Mars was chosen for the cover of Neiman Marcus’ May Book, while CocaCola purchased several existing works and ordered commissions for a world tour celebrating the 100-year anniversary of their trademark bottle shape, in which his artwork was spotlighted. Mars is a featured artist for a custom high end wallpaper and tile series with Kari Whitman...
Resin, Panel
Resting 21/30
By Sandy Graves
Located in Napa, CA
Born in Colorado and raised in Nebraska, Sandy Graves first forayed into the art world by presenting work as a child and 4-H member at local county fairs. As she continued her educat...
Bronze
MS_01.2_24
By Robert Landry
Located in Napa, CA
Somewhere at the intersection of the uncertain and the inevitable, art happens. Robert R. Landry integrates traditional and digital tools at hand in an eclectic vocabulary of nonarbi...
Canvas, Paper, Acrylic
Chanel No. 5 - Luxe
By Campbell La Pun
Located in Boston, MA
Artist: La Pun, Campbell Title: Chanel No. 5 - Luxe Date: 2025 Medium: Aerosol on Panel Unframed Dimensions: 40.5" x 28.6" Signature: Signed Edition: Unique
Spray Paint
Chanel No. 5 - Opulent
By Campbell La Pun
Located in Boston, MA
Artist: La Pun, Campbell Title: Chanel No. 5 - Opulent Date: 2025 Medium: Aerosol on Panel Unframed Dimensions: 40.5" x 28.6" Signature: Signed Edition: Unique
Spray Paint
Sunshine Chanel
By Marion Duschletta
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Swiss artist Marion Duschletta transforms luxury objects and urban landscapes from around the world into unique layered artworks. She combines an intriguing mixture of urban photogra...
Mixed Media, Canvas
"Chanel II"
By Nemo Jantzen
Located in New York, NY
In the latest series, inspired by media, pop culture, and film Jantzen takes Neo-pointillism to the next level utilizing thousands collection of photography, cinematographic stills, ...
Thread, Wood Panel
Chanel No. 5 (Blanc)
By Burton Morris
Located in West Hollywood, CA
Chanel No. 5 (Blanc) is presented as part of Burton Morris’ solo exhibition Icons in Bloom at MASH Gallery. The work reflects the artist’s continued exploration of luxury symbolism t...
Canvas, Spray Paint, Screen
Chanel, Mixed Media on Wood Panel
By Dane Shue
Located in Yardley, PA
Iconic Chanel No 5. Acrylic on cradled plywood. Signature at the back. Ready to hang. Original Created: 2022 Subjects: Fashion Materials: Wood Mediums: Acrylic :: Mixed Media :...
Mixed Media
