1 FORM • COLOR • BALANCE Recent Works • MARK DAVIS Pucker Gallery • Boston 2 Déjà vu Standing mobile in brass, aluminum, steel wires, oil and acrylic colors 8.5 x 13 x 7" MD624 FORM • COLOR • BALANCE Recent Works • MARK DAVIS THE IMPRESSIONISTS PAINTED THE LIGHT. Looking back on the past three decades, he now Mark Davis sculpts the air itself. can boast numerous gallery and museum exhibi- As we define ourselves in space, Mark’s mo- tions, public and private commissions, and a large biles each define their own small universe of space. following of avid collectors in the Boston area and What is that space? Where does it come from? far beyond. Mark imagines it, and then sees it — and somehow There is an immediate temptation to compare that vision gets transferred to his hands, which his work to Alexander Calder, and the artist takes make it appear. no exception to this comparison; he greatly ad- Often, there is a whimsy in Mark’s work that is mires Calder, who was an inspiration early in his so reflective of the artist’s personality one is tempt- life and career. But at this point Mark’s visual vo- ed to make further comparisons. While sometimes cabulary has become a complete language — and deliriously sparky and colorful, his kinetic improvi- completely his own. sations are also rock solid and sure-footed, also like His use of color and form, and his emphasis the artist. on spatial relationships also conjures images of Mark has been creating fanciful and meticu- other artists who have influenced his work: Henri lously constructed mobiles for over 25 years. He Matisse, Paul Klee, Jean Arp, Arthur Dove, Joan began his career as a sculptural jeweler when that Miro, and others. Take the time to open yourself field was just beginning, and his work evolved to the forms, colors, and movements of the seven along a continuum that follows the strength of works included in this exhibition all titled Tribute his development as an artist of remarkable vision. and let those influences wash over you. 2 3 As the artist himself has written, “I now under- the artist is barely visible in the work of art itself. stand that these artists and their achievements are All of Mark’s work is imbued with an inner en- the link I have to my own inner world, that they are ergy that is partly derived from the nature of liv- the voices that tell me I exist in the company of like ing things — plant, animal and human — and partly minds. They give me the visual confirmation that my from the inherent gestural quality that gives his interior world is not only valid and important, but work a spontaneity that belies the time and pains- that all of us, great and small, are struggling with the taking techniques needed to achieve his visions. In same conflicts. We are overcome with spiritual joys some of the most refined of those gestures in this when we discover new ways of containing and orga- exhibition, all executed in polished brass, the work nizing the swirling energies, the beauties and the ter- is placed on wheels that give it inherent movement rors inherent in the condition of being human.” even at rest. Crescendo (MD604), Rise and Fall Mark’s large-scale wall-mounted mobiles, such (MD606), Dream On (MD608), Ongoing (MD609), as A New Dynasty (MD629) and The Serpent’s and the tongue-in-cheek Ah La Cart (MD607) re- Breath (MD550) are conceptual masterworks that mind us that even the smallest gesture creates a have the impact of an animated mural painting, ripple in space that continues forever. constantly revealing new insights. In the former, Large-scale commissions, both public and we strive to translate a message of pictographic private, have recently brought greatly increased shapes, under the all-seeing eye of time and his- recognition to the artist at this stage of his career. tory. In the latter, provocative tongues of fire and His colossal and inspiring Healing Waters, com- scaly skin invoke the serpent whose danger is missioned for the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s transformed into power that commands our atten- Hospital of Chicago, is approximately 70 feet long, tion and awe. 30 feet wide and 10 feet tall. The virtual waves Awe is the reaction as well to many of Davis’ evoke the calming effect of water. Located above standing mobiles in this exhibition — but here it is the driveway entrance of the hospital, it is his larg- a quiet awe, very close and very still. In Silver Moon- est installation to date. light (MD600), Homage to the Star (MD570), Déjà Part of the impact of large-scale projects has Vu (MD624), A Glow Along the Shoreline (MD603), been the artist’s experimentation with both larger- and Trefoil (MD605), we are taken up with the art- scale form and function. His Nocturne: Bight Light ist’s own sense of quiet elegance. Ironically, once (MD627) is an exuberant sculptural room divider we set these sculptures in motion, our impulse is over 7 feet high and close to 4 feet wide. While to hold our breath. Nothing in nature is too small staying true to his artistic vision and the spatial to demand our reverence; no play of light or breeze relationships that characterize his work, Nocturne: should go unnoticed. Bright Light’s wildly biomorphic forms are striking- Whimsical form is never far behind those ly different on each side through the use of color quiet moments, for there is always much in the alone. It changes our understanding of how space artist’s work which expresses both simple fun is divided: its open forms purposely only suggest a and greater leaps of the kind of sheer joy chil- division allowing our minds to actually create the dren have at the dipping and rising of a kite separate spaces on either side of the sculpture. in the wind. Clever and colorful pieces such as It is an exciting new breakthrough in Mark’s Gato (MD582), Perro (MD583), Soaring (MD626), artistic output, and portends both new directions Within the Stratosphere (MS628), Miss Angelique and new heights for his career. (MD580), and Overt Happiness (MD495) ring — Tony Fusco true to the personality of the artist and encour- Tony Fusco is Director of Fusco & Four in Boston, producers of age us to reinvent our own happiness through the The Boston International Fine Art Show and AD20/21: Art & Design of the 20th & 21st Centuries. He is the author of five artist’s eyes. This is the “lightness of being” that books on art and design and his by-line has appeared in more so many artists seek and few achieve: the hand of than 50 periodicals over the past 40 years. 4 Standing Firm Standing mobile in brass, aluminum, steel wires, oil and acrylic colors 14 x 10 x 7" MD591 Dragon’s Breath II Standing mobile in brass, aluminum, steel wires, oil and acrylic colors 6 x 10 x 6" MD585 5 Homage to the Star Standing mobile in brass, aluminum, steel wires, oil and acrylic colors 18 x 9 x 6" MD570 6 The Brightest Flame Standing mobile in brass, aluminum, steel wires, oil and acrylic colors 21.5 x 7 x 7" MD564 7 Reach Short Flight Standing mobile in brass, aluminum, steel Standing mobile in brass, aluminum, steel wires, oil and acrylic colors wires, oil and acrylic colors 4.5 x 8 x 3" 5.5 x 6 x 4" MD642 MD641 Perro Standing mobile in brass, aluminum, steel wires, oil and acrylic colors 16 x 13 x 10" MD583 8 Crescendo Standing mobile in polished brass 15 x 15 x 4.5" MD604 Beside the Point Standing mobile in painted brass and sterling silver 4 x 12 x 8.5" MD555 9 A Glow Along the Shoreline Standing mobile in painted brass and sterling silver 22 x 28 x 20" MD603 10 The Serpent’s Breath Wall-mounted mobile in brass, aluminum, steel wire, oil and acrylic colors 32 x 45 x 12" MD550 11 Maintaining Continuity Hanging mobile in brass, aluminum, steel wires, oil and acrylic colors 80 x 40 x 36" MD574 12 Trefoil Standing mobile in polished brass 11 x 12 x 10" MD605 Silver Moonlight Standing mobile in painted brass and sterling silver 8 x 12 x 6.5" MD600 13 Miss Angelique Standing mobile in brass, aluminum, steel wires, oil and acrylic colors 11.5 x 7 x 2.5" MD580 Diana of the Hunt Standing mobile in brass with patina 5 x 9 x 4" MD610 14 Rise and Fall Standing mobile in polished brass 7 x 9 x 5.5" MD606 Ongoing Standing mobile in polished brass 8.5 x 12 x 9" MD609 15 Ah La Cart Standing mobile in polished brass 6.5 x 11 x 7" MD607 Dream On Standing mobile in polished brass 9 x 11 x 8" MD608 16 Nocturne: Bright Light Hanging room divider in aluminum, steel wires, 23K gold leaf, oil and acrylic colors 87 x 45 x 1" MD627 17 18 Gato Standing mobile in brass, aluminum, steel wires, epoxy compound, oil and acrylic colors 17.5 x 8 x 10" MD582 19 More Curious Standing mobile in brass, aluminum, steel wires, 23 K gold leaf, oil and acrylic colors 17 x 12 x 14" MD632 20 Tribute #1 Standing mobile in brass, aluminum, steel wires, oil and acrylic colors 11.5 x 14 x 7" MD613 Tribute #2 Standing mobile in brass, aluminum, steel wires, oil and acrylic colors 10 x 15 x 7" MD614 21 Tribute #7 Standing mobile in brass, aluminum, steel wires, oil and acrylic colors 11 x 15 x 14" MD621 Looking Inward from Above Standing mobile in sterling silver 4.5 x 9 x 9" MD636 22 The Fortress Standing mobile in brass, aluminum, steel wires, oil and acrylic colors 13 x 16 x 7" MD625 Tribute #3 Standing mobile in brass, aluminum, steel wires, oil and acrylic colors 5.5 x 11 x 10.5" MD615 23 Forward Standing mobile in brass, aluminum, steel wires, oil and acrylic colors 4 x 9 x 2” MD643 Overt Happiness Standing mobile in brass, aluminum, steel wires, oil and acrylic colors 13.75 x 20.75 x 14.5" MD495 24 Tribute #5 Standing mobile in