i recently met mark schoening at first fridays here in boston in his studio through a friend of mine. mark's intense black and white paintings hung on his wall shining brilliantly. i wish you could've seen them too, there is such a beauty to them. which you can see here, but i tell you in person they really shine. influenced by abstract expressionism to science fiction, here is what he says about his work:
"i do not have the luxury of escape. in this century, in this moment, few of us do. information piles up: the advertisements, the mechanisms, the media, the people. i am attached to it, in the midst of it, a part of it. however, as a painter, i am also a witness and a reactionary. the paintings speak of information explosions, where an entire environment can be physically contained in a seamlessly presented two-dimensional world. it is a reaction to the age of technology we find ourselves living in. the way we look at, perceive, and process ideas has changed, and because of that, because of what the viewer brings to the experience, these paintings could not have been created in any other time. this is not so much a comment on myself as it is the viewer. they now have the ability to take in numerous ideas and aesthetic techniques all at once as a consequence of their everyday lives. what i am doing is letting the ideas fall in a frozen plane, allowing for further investigation."
so well put, no? considering that i am watching the dog whisperer, talking to my sister and instant messaging w/ friends as i write this i can really appreciate his thoughts on taking in numerous ideas and aesthetic techniques. mark certainly gives his viewer the benefit of the doubt. how refreshing. mark is a featured artist of the 2008 decordova annual exhibition which runs through august 17.
