Mark Innerst Art

From an incandescent sunset on Long Island Sound to an iconic pop-kitsch ice storage bin at the neighborhood corner store, Rob Brooks offers us a visual journey from the real to surr...

Willard Dixon is widely recognized for his calm, contemplative landscapes and skyscapes, paintings that hold stillness, clarity, and a quiet reverence for nature. In this exhibition,...

This painting reflects Bruno Surdo’s continued engagement with classical realism as a vehicle for contemporary allegory. A young girl, centered and frontal, sits in an inflatable ring surrounded by floating plastic waste—bottles, containers, straws—both above and beneath the water’s surface. The composition is calm, almost symmetrical, yet emotionally unsettling. Surdo’s atelier-based training is evident in the careful modeling of the child’s anatomy, the naturalistic rendering of skin tones, and the controlled atmospheric perspective. The figure is painted with the same dignity and structural clarity found in Renaissance portraiture, elevating what could be a simple environmental image into a modern history painting. Art historically, the work draws from the tradition of allegorical portraiture, where innocence is personified to communicate moral themes. The child recalls Renaissance depictions of putti or symbolic youth figures, yet here innocence is placed in peril. The floating debris creates a contemporary vanitas motif: instead of skulls and extinguished candles, the symbols of decay are plastic and petroleum byproducts—markers of environmental neglect. The waterline dividing the composition subtly recalls the layered moral narratives of Baroque painting, where surface beauty often concealed deeper truths. The title, Contaminating the Innocent, underscores this allegorical intent, transforming the image into a meditation on generational responsibility. Within Surdo’s broader oeuvre—often concerned with spectacle, identity, and human consequence—this painting shifts toward ecological consciousness. Yet it remains consistent with his practice of grounding urgent modern themes in the visual authority of classical technique. By presenting environmental degradation through the lens of Renaissance-informed realism, Surdo avoids didactic illustration and instead creates a quiet, haunting indictment. The stillness of the child’s gaze contrasts with the chaos of the polluted water, reinforcing the central tension: the vulnerability of innocence in a world shaped by adult action. Bruno Surdo Contaminating the Innocent oil on canvas 48h x 48w in 121.92h x 121.92w cm BRS072 Bruno A. Surdo b. Chicago, 1963 EXHIBITIONS 2020 Realities, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL 2018 Liberation, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL Blood Sport, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL Art on Paper 2018, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Pier 36, New York, NY SOFA Chicago 2018, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL 2017 POP!ARAZZI, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL Coming Attractions, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL 2015 SOFA Chicago 2015, Ann Nathan Gallery, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL Bruno Surdo: Allegories, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2014 Bruno Surdo: Respond, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Modern Metaphors, Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, IL 2013 Bruno Surdo: Revelations, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Vice + Virtue, Northern Illinois University Museum of Art 2012 Contemporary Realism Biennial, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN 2011 Bruno Surdo, University of St. Francis School of Creative Arts, Fort Wayne, IN Uncensored, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2010 Art Chicago 2010, Ann Nathan Gallery, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL 2009 Art Chicago 2009, Ann Nathan Gallery, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL 2007 Bruno Surdo, Art Institute of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN 2006 Context/Content: Making Meaning with the Figure, University of Arkansas, Conway, AR Creative Imaginings, Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL Bruno Surdo: Cycles, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2005 Art Chicago 2005, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2004 Tragedy, Memory, & Honor, Richard M. Daley Center, Chicago, IL Art Chicago 2004, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Group Show, Arcadia Gallery, New York, NY Drawings VII, Koplin Del Rio Gallery, West Hollywood, CA Armory Show, New York Armory, New York, NY 2003 Paintings & Drawings, College of Lake County, Grayslake, IL The Art Show, New York, NY Bruno Surdo: New Work, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Art Chicago 2003, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2003-10 International Show of Contemporary Artists, Chicago Art Open, Chicago, IL 2002 Bruno Surdo: Perception of Appearance, Frye Museum, Seattle, WA Tragedy, Memory, & Honor, Richard M. Daley Center, Chicago, IL Bruno Surdo: Transcendence, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Art Chicago 2002, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Tragedy, Memory, & Honor, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2001 Magic Vision, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR 1998 Evanston and Vicinity Artists, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL 1996 Bruno Surdo: A Personal View, University of Wisconsin, Kenosha, WI 1995 Bruno Surdo: Recent Works, College of Lake County, IL AIDS in Our Society, Loyola University, Chicago, IL Bruno Surdo: Life, Struggle, and Hope, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL 2001 Magic Vision, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR Bruno Surdo: Dualities of Life, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 1999 Group Show, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 1998 Group Exhibition, Fine Arts Building Gallery, Chicago, IL 1995 Spiritual Inquiries, Struve Gallery, Chicago, IL 1994 Recent Works, The 14th Annual Juried Exhibition for Lake County Artists, Grayslake, IL Go Figure, Figurative Works on Paper, Chicago Printmakers Collaborative, Chicago, IL SELECTED COLLECTIONS The Re-Birth of Venus, Temporary Loan, Fort Wayne Museum of Art Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR College of Lake County, Greyslake, IL Flashpoint Academy, Chicago IL John Robert Wiltgen Design Shoemaker Ruud Collection Julie & Thomas Danilek Michael Vozzella and Mike Silver Benjamin Fernandez Tom Braake Betsy Colburn Michael Diemand & Lor LaRose Michael Staab & Kathy Brock Bruce Leep Frank Tzurect Mary Foley Rosalyn Carlson Mimmy Turney Janet Long Halstead Billy Hunt Carol Galli Myles Kerrigan Honorable & Mrs. Edwin Berman Theodore Gage Northrop Art Museum Past Present & Future Company Dr. James & Peggy Kemmler Salvatore Monastero Nix & Virginia Lauridsen Joel Miller David & Marlene Zerkel Ann & Andy Abel Claudia Rush Marc Miller Leonard Goldberg Lawrence Pucci Howard Tullman Collection Susan & Manny Kramer James Rinnert Richar Interiors Michael & Nancy Colt Khalid Altijir Dr. Joe Grodman Beryl & Jack Gore Larry Wolf & Eric Naegle Chuck Wolandi Jack Schwab & David Sandelin Thomas Kaczmarek Marti Dinerstein Craig & Michael Golden...

Justin Wheatley's "Good Morning" is an original, handmade acrylic painting depicting a city scene with a basketball hoop. Justin Wheatley was born and raised in Clinton, Utah. He ho...

Landscape deep Blue Original OIl Paint on Canvas authenticity certificate ready to hang one of a kind Marilina Marchica, born in 1984, was born in Agrigento, where she lives and wo...

Ps 240 Summer in La Baule Vincent Van Gogh In this luminous and poetic work, it's a powerful layer of meaning through the woman’s swimsuit, which echoes Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Ni...

Artodyssey "Julita Malinowska's paintings belong to those, which once seen - are never forgotten. The open spaces, sometimes cool and bright, at other times heavily saturated with co...

Glorious combination of figuration and landscape with ocean-scape from celebrated living American Realist Willard Dixon who has spent a lifetime capturing the West with its grand and humble spirit. The exceptional work comes framed with a natural and contemporary hard wood framing. 'Evening Beach' is 43 x 65 inches. The work is featured in the artists's newest book, Evening Light. Signed and dated by the artist. A beautiful work of art that celebrates early evening ocean calm and light - the artist's favorite. Willard Dixon's work can be found in countless private collections and important museum collections including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), the Oakland Museum of California Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Brought to you from Andra Norris Gallery in California. Selected Collections The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art The Oakland Museum The Utah Museum of Fine Art San Francisco Art Commission Shaklee Corporation Pacific Gas and Electric Company, San Francisco, CA Kemper Insurance Company, Long Grove, Il Morrison and Foerester, San Francisco, CA SSI Container Corporation, San Francisco, CA San Francisco International Airport Oxford Petroleum Company, Houston,TX California First Bank, San Francisco, CA United Pipeline, Houston, TX Security Pacific National Bank, S.F., CA Crocker Bank, Los Angeles, CA Visa Corporation, San Francisco, CA Atlantic Richfield Corporation Shell Oil, Houston, TX First National Bank of Seattle RREEF Corporation, San Francisco, CA Texas Heritage Society Genstar Corporation, San Francisco, CA Sohio Corporation Skidmore Owings and Merrill, N.Y.C., NY Chemical Bank, NY Swissre Corporation, NY The Insurance Company of North America First National Bank of Midland, Texas Commerce Bank AMA Headquarters, Washington, DC Hughes Tool, Houston, TX ATT, NY Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, San Francisco, CA IBM Corporation, San Jose, CA Northern Trust Company, Chicago, IL Smith Kline and French Corp., Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Bank, San Francisco, CA Republic National Bank Chevron Trammel Crow Company, Dallas, CA U.S. Insurance Group, N.J. Southwestern Bell Corp., MO Union Bank Pacific Bell United States Trust Company, NY The United Bank of Denver, CO Cigna Corp., Philadelphia, PA Atlantic Richfield Corp., Los Angeles, CA Show, Pittman, Pots and Trobridge, Washington, DC San Francisco Zen Center Hughes Aircraft Co. Los Angeles, CA Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing (3M), St. Paul, MN Bank of America, NY Commerce Bancshares, Inc., Kansas City,MO Robinson Humphrey/American Express, Atlanta, GA Merrill Lynch, San Francisco, CA Goldman Sachs, NY Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., NY Victoria Bank and Trust, Victoria, TX NYNEX, NY Coca Cola, U.S.A., Atlanta, GA TransAmerica Corporation Pacific Telesis Group Brobeck, Phleger, & Harrison Exxon Corporation U.S. Trust Selected Private Collections Estate of Ahmet Ertegun, New York, NY Mr. Harrison Ford, Los Angeles, CA Estate of Irving Lazarr, Los Angeles, Ca Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Holzer, New York, NY Mr. and Mrs. Peter Asher...

This is an archetypal Stafford painting. Cheery tugs and Cornish fishing boats bobbing about in the harbour as they busy themselves with their days routine and the townsfolk watching...

Frank Dekkers Low Water 140 x 200 cm (not framed) oil on canvas On the pictures we also show you the artist receiving the flowers on our opening of this exhibition september 3th 202...

Original oil painting 'Summer Day', on canvas 50 x 70 cm, 2023

'Relish', Oil painting on canvas 60x50 cm, 2024