Mark Van Wagner

Sand has become an integral part of my artwork. Inspired by drawing and writing on beaches and watching the impressions get washed away, one day I decided to abscond with the sand and use it as the “ink” on my paintings. Having lived on the Island of Kauai and now on Long Island in Bellport, I am impressed by the variety of color, shape, and size of the grains of sand that wash onto the different shores. Over the years, I have collected and used sand from various places, incorporating this substance both under and over my painted, layered abstractions. In my exploration of different types of natural and unnatural materials in my artwork, I have recognized sand to be a profound symbol of the essence of decomposition -- matter in the process of transforming. Actually, a mound of sand and a palette of paint can be viewed as not so dissimilar, considering sand's compositional past and paint's compositional future!

While experiencing all the playful, childlike qualities that accompany one's first encounters with sand or paint, I delight in the investigational process of combining these two materials, each with its unique complex nature. As of recent, I am receiving sands from around the world, and using pigmented sand as well. It is my intention to use these, along with my paint, to create spontaneous, meditative, calligraphic expressions that reference abstract sculptural tablets or suggest biomorphic collisions, webs, circuitries, waves, the inner and outer landscape, and sometimes... the inexpressible.

Mark Van Wagner

Born in New York - Lives in Bellport, NY

Education:

School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL BFA 1982

Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO 1978

 Selected One person Exhibitions:

2008       Lincoln Gallery, Naropa University, Boulder, CO

2007       Timespace Gallery, Hanapepe, Kauai, HI

1991       Nancy Lurie Gallery, Chicago, IL

1989       Nancy Lurie Gallery, Chicago, IL

1989       INSIDER, Prairie Avenue Gallery, Chicago, IL

1985       NO MAN’S LAND, Body Politic Gallery, Chicago, IL

 Selected Group Exhibitions:

2011       Kauai Museum, Kauai, HI

       Galerie 103, Kauai, HI

       ORANGE, Elisa Contemporary Art, New York

       SPLASH, Sotheby’s International, Riverdale, NY

2010       Elisa Contemporary Art, New York

       AAF Expo, New York

       Galerie 103, Kauai, HI

       Art Kauai, HI (Curator: Neida Bangerter)

2009       Galerie 103, Kauai, HI

       Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, IL

2008       Timespace Gallery, Hanapepe, Kauai, HI

       KSA, Kauai, HI

2007       Timespace Gallery, Hanapepe, Kauai, HI

1999       COLORADO ART Juried Exhibition, Foothills Art

       Center, Golden, CO

1997       EARTH ENERGY – A CELEBRATION, The Dairy

       Center for the Arts, Boulder, CO

1995       NEW VISIONS, Alumni Exhibition, Fountain Valley

       School, Colorado Springs, CO

       EYE CAFÉ, Inaugural Exhibition, The Dairy Center for

       The Arts, Boulder, CO

1994       A PASSIONATE PERSPECTIVE, Francis and June

       Spiezer Collection of Art, Rockford Art Museum,

       Rockford, IL

1993       NON-OBJECT-LESS, Beret International Gallery,

       Chicago, IL

1992       MEMBER’S SHOW, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL

       THE SENTIMENTAL SHOW, Beret International

       Gallery, Chicago, IL

       AMAALGAMATIONS, School of the Art Institute of

       Chicago, Gallery 2, Chicago IL

       GALLERY ARTISTS, Nancy Lurie Gallery, Chicago, IL

 1991       HUMAN, Suburban Fine Arts Center, Highland Park, IL

       BUY/LOW, Prairie Avenue Gallery, Chicago, IL

       FRONT & BACK/IN & OUT, Nancy Lurie Gallery,

       Chicago, IL

       BOTANICS, Gallery 10, Rockford, IL

       THE 11:59 SHOW, School of the Art Institute of

       Chicago, Gallery 2, Chicago, IL

1990       GALLERY ARTISTS, Nancy Lurie Gallery, Chicago, IL

1988       HATRED THROUGH THE AGES, Prairie Avenue

       Gallery, Chicago, IL

       15 YEARS 15 WALLS, ARC Gallery, Chicago, IL

       INVERTED VIEW, Randolph Street Gallery, Chicago, IL

1985       MoMING’S 2^ND JURIED DRAWING SHOW, Curator:

       Hudson, MoMing Dance and Art Center, Chicago, IL

       ART EXPO, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL (Rep. by Chicago Art

       Moves)

       PRODUCTS OF SOCIETY, ’85, ARC Gallery, Chicago, IL

       THE SHADOW, Name Gallery, Chicago, IL

1983       WORLDS WITHIN, WORLDS WITHOUT, ASPECTS OF

       LANDSCAPE, The School of the Art Institute of

       Chicago, IL

 Media/Publications

2009       The Garden Island, PAM Woolway, - August 26.

       The Garden Island, PAM Woolway, - September 4.

2008       Mental Contagion, “A Meditative Approach To The

       Creative Process,” Sam Edstill, - May

       www.mentalcontagion.com

2007       Garden Island Newspaper, Keya Keita, Life and

       Style, Kauai, HI, - May 4.

1991            WBEZ NPR RADIO, Victoria Lautman, “Artistic License”

            BUY/LOW, Prairie Avenue Gallery – June 6 1991.

            Chicago Tribune, Barbara Sullivan, Chicago Style –

            June 2, 1991

            ARTS MAGAZINE, Kathryn Hixon, “Made, Make,

            Will Make” – January 1991

            Chicago Tribune, David McCracker Review, 2.22.91

            MODERN ART AROUND CHICAGO, Potpurri: The Art

            Institute of Chicago. Lectures – April 23, 26 and 30^th,

            1991.

Grants/Honors

1991            REVCO Group, Ltd. Grant, for the BUY/LOW

            Exhibition, Prairie Avenue Gallery, Chicago, IL

1989            Community Arts Assistant Grant from the

            Chicago office of Fine Arts and The Illinois Arts

            Council, for INSIDER Exhibition, Prairie Avenue

            Gallery, Chicago, IL

            www.markvanwagner.com