contemporary art salon
EXHIBITION: WALPA D'MARK|A BRIGHT FUTURE
Dates:
Reception: Saturday, March 6: 4 pm - 9pm
The Livingroom is proud to announce a solo exhibition of Los Angeles based artist Walpa D'Mark, featuring his massive sculptures, installation art, and paintings. Drawing from his Nicaraguan roots, the artist creates DIY cardboard and mixed media maquettes of primitive monuments that explore the metaphor of the artist as God. Or gods? With overtones of von Daniken's book "Chariots of the Gods," Jason Rhoades, and Mayan archaeology, the works combine mastery of bright colors using collage and the search for spiritual loci within our media-saturated lifestyles. D'Mark search for solitude of the celebration of the individual artist as shaman or priest parallels the potential fall of mankind from the state of grace as a positive act of discovering ultimate freedom. His sculptures, similar to religious icons, focus on the juxtaposition of figurative theological symbols with fanciful abstraction that explores the decorative pattern of cultural archetypes as well as the lost innocence which marks our transition into a world where people write their realities rather than absorbing its wondrous beauty. The artist's use of everyday materials such as light bulbs, a table top, foam, and faux rocks implies that art serves an alchemist's function where ordinary media such as glue and paper can comprise spiritual work that is embedded in powerful ideas about history, religion, archaeology, and poetry. D'Mark hopes to instill a sense of awe within his viewers as they walk through these all-encompassing artifacts like a cathedral of creativity.
In conjunction with D'Mark's installation art, there is a separate presentation of the large-scale paintings of the artist. With a lyrical and profoundly humorous palette, the artist examines the themes of theological icons and Latin American history within the context of a globalized world where the visual poet constructs a new world from the most basic of archetypes ranging from the sun to the earth. These landscapes of a seemingly pristine paradise reflect our obsessive interest in the occult as a counterbalance to an increasingly scientific world view. D'Mark's perception of our mysterious universe demonstrates his fearless approach in the portrayal of the passionate conflict between identifiable forms and amorphous mysticism.
Walpa D'Mark is a sculptor, painter, curator, and installation artist who lives and works in Torrance, California. He is a graduate of California State University, Long Beach and Claremont Graduate University. He has exhibited in the East Gallery at Claremont Graduate University, Gallery 314, Greenleaf Gallery, Track 16 Gallery, High Energy Construct, and Mark Moore Gallery. "A Bright Future" is D'Mark first solo exhibition in Salt Lake City.
THE LIVINGROOM is a contemporary art salon devoted to conceptual projects founded by Salt Lake City artists Julie Dunker and qi peng. The space is located in the Holladay district at 2105 Fardown Avenue. The hours are Friday, 3pm - 6pm; Saturday, 10 am-3 pm; and by appointment. For more information, call (505) 228-1268 or email: [email protected].
