Karin Clarke Gallery is pleased to present an exhibit of paintings by one of the gallery's popular artists, the late Mark Clarke, and curated by the artist's daughter, Gallerist Karin Clarke.
Later in life, Clarke said he thought of himself as "an old landscape painter." However, what is clear from this exhibit is the wide range of material he handled easily and masterfully, from landscapes to abstraction to figurative works, large and small in scale.
A striking and perhaps surprising inclusion in this collection is figurative work from his imagination. These pieces provided experimental opportunities for Clarke. He would say of his process: "I get a couple of these going at a time. I begin with a vague figure and then start changing all aspects of the painting - the color palette, the composition. I try different tools for applying the paint - rollers, pieces of cardboard, cloth daubers, in addition to brushes."
The nearly 30 pieces in the current show are a variety of sizes from 8"x10" to 40"x40". All are painted in acrylic, his preferred medium, except for one early watercolor. Most of the pieces were framed by the artist himself; he was known for the frames that he built and painted.
