Nothing’s Wasted on Mars

LIKE WARHOL AND RAUSCHENBERG BEFORE HIM—BUT WITH A STYLE ALL HIS OWN—ROBERT MARS COLORFULLY CELEBRATES THE POP ICONS OF AMERICANA.

Trends come and go, but icons never get old. Neither does artist Robert Mars’ fascination for cultural immortality—a fascination that isn’t limited to superstars but extends to legendary cars, soft drinks and other phenomena of the golden era that was the ’50s and ’60s.

Behind the neon lights, folk art and mixed-media collages that elevate Mars’ work toward its own iconic status, “there’s definitely a message,” he says. “The people I’m representing in my work, they don’t ever go out of style.”

Maybe it’s our own fascination with icons, but Mars has inspired numerous solo exhibits, from the Galeries Bartoux in France to the Coral Springs Museum of Art in Florida and recently his “Past is Present” exhibition for Gullotti Galleries in West Australia, which will be followed by a second exhibit there this November.

It’s been quite a journey since Mars—now 52, married and the father of two—first dazzled his parents with crayon creativity back in Monmouth County, New Jersey, letting them know they had an artist on their hands. But not a starving artist. Guided by their insistence on education, Mars attended Parsons School of Design in New York City, which led to decades as a graphic designer. He also found his muse nearby in a studio dedicated to Andy Warhol. (Both Warhol and pop artist Robert Rauschenberg have influenced Mars’ work.)

Still, in a quest for individuality, Mars is always zigging when others zag. His wife’s quilting drew him to folk art in 2014, and a few years later the pandemic inspired abstract compositions—a way to balance chaos and control, he says.

Judging from what he’s done so far, if there’s anything we can expect from Mars, it is the unexpected.

Mars and rock singer Bruce Springsteen both lived in Holmdel—that’s Jersey. “He’s like a local legend,” says Mars of the star he’s yet to meet. “His music is rooted in Americana and rock n’ roll and is timeless.” For that Americana spirit the star personifies, Mars tied in Old Glory in a quilt pattern.

Clockwise from left: French actress Brigitte Bardot on Vogue’s cover in a colorburst collage. In “All Roads Collide,” spinning wheels create a sunset effect with layers of painted newspaper from Mars’ vintage collection. A 3-D Coca-Cola bottle, which celebrates the 100th anniversary of its shape, was not the end of his corporate work: His art appears in the private and corporate collections of the New York Mets, Absolut Vodka and Oceania Cruise Lines to name a few. Inspired by Warhol’s idea of multiples is this depiction of supermodel Kate Moss.

Clockwise from left: The Palms Motor Hotel in Portland, Oregon, drew Mars with its 25-foot-tall neon sign, and the Mustang—well, that’s a street legend. Pop artist Robert Indiana inspired Mars to create “Most Kings,” a neon work united with Americana. Mars’ collage format gives this triple threat—Frank Sinatra, Brigitte Bardot and Michael Jackson— a fresh look above a piano. It was bound to happen that Mars, a lifelong guitarist, would combine two loves: music and art.