Speaking of Art with Mark Davis
By M.Sebastian Araujo
Sometimes amid the flurry of life one finds something that stirs the imagination the Mobile Art of Mark Davis did that for me…Recently while he was installing a show we had a chance to have a chat about
what stirs his imagination…
What in the BIG World around you affects your Creativity?
That is an easy answer for me….the world of nature. For whatever reason, I am in awe of the world of nature in all its forms, and organic shape comes naturally to me as a language to discover and develop. Also, this includes the idea of human nature. Truthful human nature. My work is always about joyful expression, but it is not a shallow surface discourse. It incorporates the deeper tensions of being alive in your body
What changes do you see in the ART scene today…?
It seems to me that there are two ideas going on here. There is a sense of art as a commodity, and a sense of art as a continuing conversation, an ideal of human expression that travels through time and space. Art as commodity is something invented by a business minded community to show art as a concept to be purchased. The concept is all important, and the execution is superfluous. With the kind of art I make, the artist goes about expressing a concept through formal methods of honing his craft and finding more and more ways to discover what is in himself and how to get that out into the world in a beautiful provocative way. In terms of how I view this divide, I say let the idiots spend their millions of dollars on a pine board with a blue line painted on it, and let me continue on my path
What makes a person want to acquire ART ?
Honestly, art is such a subjective thing. All art is not made for all people. You should expose yourself to all kinds of art and decide what speaks to you the most fully. The art historian Kenneth Clark said that when you first lay eyes on a wonderful work of art, it “sings”. It should be for the love of what you are seeing.
Was there a “shining lightbulb” moment in your career when you realized that you were an artist? If so what was it?
It took me many many years to think of myself as an artist. For 15 years, I was a high fashion jeweler, which was more of a commodity and less intimidating to me.I had a moment when I was 14 years old, when I was in the library and found a book on Alexander Calder. Opening that book was like a shock wave going through my system. I went home, studied the book and its images, then went to the hardware store and bought sheet aluminum and steel wire. I then made a copy of Calder’s “Snowflakes” mobile exactly the way it looked in the book. I just had that total understanding of what he was doing. I used Duco glue to cement the wire to the circles, and it was hanging over my parents bed when it all started to fall apart, and they were slowly rained on by little white circles !!
How hard is it for an Artist to survive in the world we live in today?
Honestly, it is awfully difficult to make a career out of making art. But perhaps it always has been. You use the word “survive” and to me you mean to make a living. I have been extremely lucky in my life to have people who believed in me and gave me opportunity and wisdom. My greatest gift as an artist has been to have worked for over 20 years with Bernie and Sue Pucker of the Pucker Gallery on Newbury St. in Boston. They have sold my work regularly for all this time, and just being able to make a living doing my work has allowed me to keep working at my craft, always trying new ways of expanding the basic concepts that I employ.
What is it about Ptown that keeps you and other creative people living there or coming back ?
Provincetown has been in its history a rarified atmosphere for artists of all stripes. Its funny that it is sort of the end of the world in that it juts out from the mainland, and is not easily accessible. I think it has always attracted people who consider themselves outsiders, and it is a comfortable place to feel accepted. Artists, poets, writers, can spend time in Provincetown and get away from the outside world quite successfully to do their thing.
Even visitors who come to town just to check out the sights feel that vibe. It seems to be in the air.
The arts scene in Provincetown is varied, in that there is something for everybody to look at and buy. As the real estate prices climb, and every old shack slowly becomes a spruced up cottage, there is a more sophisticated group of people living there either full time or during the summer. This has made higher end galleries open up and succeed. What I like about that is that it gives the art scene a greater variety than ever before.
Nice to see that once again this crazy quilt of a place with all its many changes and characters is still calling to the soul of Art.Hopefully as the world keeps spinning round,the world of Provincetown will still spin to its own rhythm and inspire creativity for many years to come.
For more about Marks Work Have a look Here:
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