MAGO’S JOURNAL MARKET ART & DESIGN 2021 By MAGO Assisted by Jordyn Axelrod
MAGO is an internationally acclaimed artist, specializing in graffiti and pop culture. He is also the curator at the RJD Gallery, and advises private clients. MAGO is experienced in the worlds of fashion, TV, video production, and photography, and this wealth of cultural knowledge he intends to use to inform this column. Contact MAGO at mago@sociallifemagazine.com or 212.203.7582
F
rom August 12th to August 15th, I had the honor of working at the beautiful Market Art & Design, located at the Bridgehampton Museum. After two long years without this art fair, it was incredibly heartening to see local galleries and artists show up and showcase such great work once again. Among all the stunning artwork, my favorite standout pieces came from Chase Edwards Contemporary Gallery, The White Room Gallery, and The Mark Borghi Gallery. Theo Pinto, From Sky to Sea, oil on resin, 60 x 60 in, (Chase Edwards Contemporary) This circular beauty is an exploration of light when day meets night and sky meets sea. Theo’s work is a deep dive into how we experience the sky; not as an external image but as a shared moment. It is an invitation to contemplate how the sky is the common denominator bringing all people — from all times —closer together, both physically and cosmically.
Bo Bartlett, The Promised Land, 2015, oil on linen, 88 x 120 in. With a powerful ability to discern and amplify the magical possibilities of ordinary life, Bo Bartlett exemplifies the potential for exploration in narrative figurative painting with his informed and technically skilled interpretation of contemporary portraiture. Based in Columbus, Georgia, Barlett dissolves formal distinctions between portraiture and self-representation, exploring the unspoken implications of identity as well as relationships within an image and the viewer-subject relationship. Bartlett’s subjects are rendered fully as individuals, and his articulation of realism transcends mere mimesis. Often approaching the fantastical, the artist’s meticulous control inflects each painting with an uncanny psychological resonance. In single and group portraits, Bartlett takes up the influence and concerns of American realists like Andrew Wyeth and Thomas Eakins to capture the elusive coexistence of physical reality, emotional experience, memory, and dreams. Social Life
