Mary Mark & David Johnson

The fine art of Mary Mark is distinctively recognizable. Her newest sanctuaries from contemporary life’s frenzy evoke nostalgic memories of past gathering places; the simple elegance of chair and table conversations meant to imply human interactions held dear. Those images of days-gone-by pleasure coffee shops, ice cream parlors, sweet shops, old chairs, checkerboard floors but new exciting colors are instantly known as hers and hers alone by even the most unenlightened. Mark’s vision has emerged from the 19th century arts and crafts movement with its pre-Raphaelite influences. Mix together the funky perspectives of Cezanne, the saturated colors of Matisse, the stylized botanicals of William Morris merge these into the expressive black line of Munch and Baskin, add a peppering of the irreverent attitude of Picasso and the determination and self contained feminism of Georgia O’Keefe to create the unique palette that is her distinctive look.

The expression of Mary’s contemporary art must by necessity include the revival of traditional craft. The demands and limitations of the reduction linoblock process both retard and advance the development of the final image. Printmaking entails not just the making of a work of fine art, but he making of an intermediary work of art, the matrix, which in turn will make the art. The message of layered color, perspective and concentrated design elements of the image emerges from a thousand cuts of the block and multiple printings of the paper. The recarving and reprinting of the block with as many as 20 colors inevitably lead to its self-destruction. The image registration on the paper must endure the press’ pressure for those 20 reprintings along with climate variations over the printing period and yet register the detailed image to the last color. The palette of over printed semi-transparent inks must be controlled to produce the compositional intention and the proper pressure balance across the face of the plate in order not to irregularly stretch the paper. The engineering and artistic challenge subjugates the manufacture of the matrix as the final image emerges from the process in spite of its limits.

The fine art of Mary Mark implies this craft as surely as Van Gogh’s brush strokes imply his. It is as it should be with all fine art. The rigors of proofing and editioning the matrix expose a wealth of unfamiliar and unpredictable substances entombed in the mute linoleum. The random marks and distinct line made possible only through the carving animates the cafe accoutrements, the fabrics: each element finds vitality in this association of planned and random marks; the expanded still lifes, nostalgic living spaces, frenzied assortment of brilliant colors and textured patina speak of tranquility and reflective reverie. It is the fine art of Mary Mark.