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gabriel mark

Gabriel Mark's frozen moments in time communicate the ineffable. Saturated in beauty, the mundane is transformed into the fantastic. His subjects are of the people and architecture he encounters on his travels. They are of the lonely cobblestone streets of Prague, the romantic architecture of Venice, and the hills of his home in Ashland, Oregon. He has painted the calloused fishermen in Greece, the mischievous girls of Tokyo and our American hipsters. In a culture obsessed with youth, Gabriel Mark's art examines the charm and beauty of the elderly. His work celebrates the timeless antiquity of the world.

Unmoved by most of modernism and unable to take much of the avant-garde too seriously, Gabriel found a mentor classically trained in the schools of Russia, Semyon Bilmes. At the Bilmes Art School, Gabriel Mark studied classical craftsmanship, sculpture and painting. Drawing single still lifes for 12 hours at a time and filling dozens of sketchbooks, Gabriel emerged from this period of study with confidence and skill. During this intense study, Gabriel Mark was introduced to the works of William Adolphe Bouguereau, J.W. Waterhouse and John Singer Sargent. He speaks excitedly about the profound effects of these artists: "The purity of the paintings combined with the subtle narratives of the everyday" is what has inspired the direction of his work. Although these masters may have shown him the way, Gabriel Mark stays true to his own style.

The range and command of his pallet are brilliant and sophisticated. Few fine artists are able to take such risks with color. At thirty two, he has already caught the eye of collectors and galleries worldwide.

Whether he is pushing or limiting his pallet, the versatility of his craftsmanship is evident. With several public murals and paintings housed in numerous collections, Gabriel Mark takes care to balance his time between both commercial and fine art. When asked which he preferred he replied, "It's all painting. Painting's what I love."