Mark Bowers

True North - Privilege, Surreal Landscape w/ Blue Sky, Scattered Clouds, & House

2019

"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 - Identity" is a worms-eye view of a brilliant blue sky with a maze of distinctive clouds. The surreal quality of the imagery makes the viewer question reality. Are the clouds actual clouds or made by some other means? Are those fluffy clouds behind the bare branches or mountains? The ellipsed edges confirm the scene as an inner vision rather than a window on the world. The painting itself is painted on a handmade wooden panel with beautifully finished edges so no frame is needed. Mark Bowers True North - Identity oil on panel 9h x 12w in 22.86h x 30.48w cm MJB014 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 - 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...

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...

Carol creates a range of subjects—landscapes, figures, portraits and still life. Whatever the subject, all are imbued with her strong sense of design; luscious brushwork; love for 19...

View from the Train, 2019 24" X 40" x 1", oil on canvas This contemporary oil painting depicting a metropolitan view is the work of realist painter Patty Neal. The painting offers an intimate view of the city, as seen from a window, as it peeks from behind two metal structures. The dark browns and bright golds beautifully compliment the dusty blue, gray sky. Neal works highlight everyday city scenes, utilitarian infrastructure, and industrial or electrical apparatus. Artist statement: A life is an accumulation of experiences: visual, emotional and mental. By compartmentalizing these snippets of life we create boundaries. The focus of my work for many years has been the exploration of these various life aspects and how they are bound together or bound from each other. My process is often literally composed of boundaries. I make a painting by putting together multiple panels, or I segment a single panel into separate visual spaces. The works are made up of pieces or elements of city and landscape. While exploring the concepts of boundaries I play with visual “reality.” Sometimes I combine images that are upside down with those that are not and juxtapose images from different contexts. Literal boundaries, such as walls fences, expanses of water and highway median strips are also used. My intent is to invite viewers to look beyond these boundaries to see the possibilities of a connected whole. About the artist: Solo Exhibitions 2011 "Interior/Exterior", Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, New York 2008 ”Landscape Revisited”, 1870 Gallery, Belmont 2005 Nomad Rug Gallery, San Francisco 2004 "Landscapes"@Klein's, San Francisco 2004 "Landscape Renewed," Space 743, San Francisco 2003 Exploding Head...

In this contemporary still life painting in oil on panel, white tulips with a light pink hue sit on a wooden windowsill while a winter landscape with a snow-covered field and barren ...

This painting titled "Detroit Pixels I" is an original artwork by Jessica Hess made of acrylic and oil paint on panel. This piece measures 12"h x 12"w. A graduate of the Rhode Islan...