02-01-10: Artist #2: Mark Bradford

The written word can be poured into any vessel. I do it now. It’s poured into video, into a painting, into a public-domain practice. It’s the idea that holds it together for me. - Mark Bradford (Art21)

"Temporary" 2005. Mixed media collage and string. 130 x 196 inches

 

Mark Bradford was born in Los Angeles, Cali. in the 60's where he currently resides and makes work. He collects materials from the street and turns them into wall-sized mixed-media collages. They are meant to respond to public spaces and inter-workings of a city, whether public or underground. The compositions echo crowds of people and how neighborhoods are formed in structure. I enjoyed what he had to say about what is expected of an artist today and how he responds to those expectations. "Fluidity, juxtapositions, cultural borrowing- they’ve all been going on for centuries. The only authenticity there is what I put together."

"Potable Water" 2005. Mixed media collage, 130 x 196 inches

"An artist has a choice to be as political or apolitical as anyone else who’s making choices. So I don’t think an artist is necessarily apolitical if he or she doesn’t make overtly political work." He realizes that as an artist, we are always influenced by what is going on in the world, whether it is intentional or not. He is comfortable with the press and media topics bleeding into his work. I think that his work is very beautiful aesthetically and also can have many meanings to it. The pieces are not limiting.

One thing I didn't realize right away was the size. I copied down the dimensions but seeing a production still really helps one to imagine how massive these works are. Looking at them online you lose the experience of seeing it live. I appreciate the work so much more seeing how big it is and what he puts into it. The artist hand is more apparent.

I was turned onto this artist by Tom. He mentioned something about a performance piece with a skirt and a jersey. This work wasnt apparent right away so I had to go searching for it. It seems to be a piece about stereotypes. He narrates saying that the reason he made this big hoop skirt out of a lakers outfit was to create a "condition".  The skirt literally shows a struggle to get the basketball dribbled and to shoot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rM3x0XOll30

Representation
Art21