THE AUTOMATIC MANUAL
MARK FARRIS
THE AUTOMATIC MANUAL WORKS IN VARIOUS MEDIA BY MARK FARRIS
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MARK FARRIS Born July 15, 1982. Greensboro, NC. Currently works and resides in Charlotte, NC.
EDUCATION 2000: Graduate of the North Carolina School of The Arts Winston-Salem, NC. 2002: Second year work in illustration, The Ringling School of Art & Design Sarasota, Fl. 2006: Summer residency and workshop at the Academy of Fine Arts Wroclaw, Poland. 2007: Concluding studies at the University of North Carolina Charlotte Graduating December, 2007 with BFA painting concentration, art history minor.
CONTACT phone: (704) 223-2352 e-mail: mdfarris@uncc.edu snail-mail: 175 Partridge Run Salisbury, NC 28147
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FARRIS IN HIS STUDIO 2007
INTRODUCTION The intention of this publication is to provide an overview of works produced over the past two years. This particular collection of images best reflects the perpetuity of personal growth through creative process.
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ARTIST’S STATEMENT Growing up in a small rural town nestled in the deep South, I wasn’t exposed to a lot of art when I was younger. My first associations with art came from the pages of the comic books I would read and the cartoons I watched on TV. Being that there wasn’t a large gallery or museum in my town, my first art tutorials came from hours spent copying the characters I would see in these books and shows. In these formative years, I found particular interest in the way comic artists and cartoonists could anthropomorphize animals and exaggerate the human form. As I progressed through school, and conducted research on my own, I found that representation of the human form is a ubiquitous feature of Western art. In this tradition, the adeptness of an artist at rendering the human figure has long been the measuring unit by which an artist’s merit is determined. Conversely, the way in which an artist denounces or manipulate these conventions serves to establish their personal aesthetic. With my own work, I am trying to formulate answers to questions that are posed of every artist; such as how one deals with communicating something as intricate as human relationships, or visceral as human emotion. My personal interest in the human experience is in the examination of humanity’s innate drive toward domination over other groups of people, the environment, and their own physical bodies. The figures that appear in my work offer a surreal vantage of the effects of technology and evolution on our species. I use a lot of imagery in my current work that are appropriated from photographs in vintage periodicals and books. While these images possess a strong appeal for me aesthetically, their chronological incongruence enhances the work conceptually. When these antiquated materials are taken from their original context and reconstructed, they become amalgams of human, animal, and machine. These crude, Mourea-esque combines, are an absurdist or Dada refutation of humanity’s assertion of dominance over other species and the natural world. Thematically, this is not meant to condone a regression toward a simpler existence; but rather encourage confronting the probable repercussions of conducting research that we lack the moral judgment MARK FARRIS 2007 or mental capacity to perform.
COLLECTED WORKS PAINTINGS DRAWINGS PRINTS ASSEMBLAGES © 2005-2007
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UNTITLED NO. 11 2007. oil, silkscreen, oil pastel, acrylic media, wood stain, on canvas. 60” x 72”
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GLASS JAW PUGILIST 2006. oil, charcoal, acrylic media, photo collage on canvas. 42” x 60”
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PARIAH 2006. oil, wood stain, charcoal, acrylic media, photo collage on canvas. 42” x 60”
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FAMILIAR FEELING FROM A PHANTOM LIMB 2007. oil, charcoal, acrylic media on canvas. 48” x 72”
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SOMNAMBULIST 2005. oil, charcoal, wood stain, photo xerox collage, cocoon on panel, framed. 30” x 48”
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RESPIRATION NO. 4 2007. oil, silkscreen, oil pastel, wood stain, on canvas. 48” x 72”
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UNTITLED NO. 13 2007. oil, charcoal, acrylic media, woodstain on canvas. 48” x 72”
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Re:EVOLUTIONARY 2005. oil, silicone caulk, oil pastel, on panel. 30” x 48”
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SYNTAX 2005. oil on canvas 36” x 48”
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CONTINUUM 2005. oil on canvas 36” x 48”
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UNTITLED VIGNETTE 2007. acrylic, serigraph, rust, on steel. 13.5” x 13.5”
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TIN SOLDIERS 2006. metal cabinet, flame-thrower, photo collage, acrylic. dimensions variable
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UNTITLED INSTALLATION 2006. etched mirrors, glass, photo polymer transfers, steel, found objects, acrylic paint. dimensions variable
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Madre 2006. individual piece from installation, reverese etched mirror. 16� x 18�
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THURSDAY CHAINED HERSELF TO A SYCAMORE 2007. found printing blocks, chain lock, wood. 9” x 17”
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GOLEM NO. 2779 2007. ironing board, foot stool, table legs, furniture parts, glass. 37” x 71”
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IMPROMPTU FIGURE DRAWING 2007. oil colour, ink, on wood. 10” x 14”
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WANDERERS 2007. dual color linoleum print. 12” x 16”
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RESEARCH: BEAUTY IN THE MUNDANE
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EXHIBITIONS AND COLLECTORS
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SUMMER 2005: Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival Manchester, TN.
FALL 2005: Lexington Avenue Arts Festival Asheville, NC.
WINTER 2005: Annual Artist Invitational Show Waterworks Visual Arts Center Salisbury, NC. SPRING 2006: Exhibition; UNCC Chancellor’s Residence Raleigh, NC.
SUMMER 2006: Group exhibition; The Glass Gallery Academy of Fine Arts Wroclaw, Poland. SUMMER 2006: Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival Manchester, TN.
SPRING 2007: Juried exhibition; Rowe Arts Gallery Charlotte, NC.
SPRING 2007: Group exhibition; Storrs Gallery Charlotte, NC.
PRIVATE AND CORPORATE COLLECTORS EcoSur Group, LLC. USA and Argentina Collection of Maja Godlewska Collection of James Frakes
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THE AUTOMATIC MANUAL © 2007
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