Marc Swanson’s Biography and Exhibitions at Saatchi-gallery
August 14th, 2010 | 
Author: Marc Swanson exhibition is a representation of the artist’s continuing pursuit of self-awareness via the artistic process. Consisting of three main components, it is as if the work has been dreamed up by Swanson’s subconscious manifesting in glitter and etched mirror-paintings, hand-made glass sculptures, and a large-scale dioramic installation.
The black glitter and mirror pieces, inspired by carnival novelty prizes, are arranged horizontally against the entrance wall. They form a dichotomy between the fantastical and self-exploratory. The etched mirrors, inspired by self-reflection and personal perceptions, consist of a singular image, such as a colored target, a peacock, a flying goat, and the pop icon Madonna. These mirrors have been partially scratched off and much like Swanson’s earlier rhinestone covered objects these reflective surfaces play upon feelings of diffidence, desire and acceptance. They are glamorous objects full of aspiration, memory and nostalgia.
Also in the front gallery, five glass arrows seem to have been shot into the wall. These sculptures act as poetic anachronisms, futile and impossible in reality, but pleasurable for their romantic gesture.
Greeting the viewer in the rear gallery is a full-scale installation. A wooded mise-en-scene is composed of 17-foot beech and hemlock tree trunks framed by a canopy of tree branches acquired by the artist from the woods behind his father’s property in rural New Hampshire. In a gesture not unlike gilding a lily, Swanson has painted a peacock re-presenting it in a forced acrylic palette. Swanson employs the peacock as a symbol of male allure though it is underscored by a sense of self-questioning as the artist continues his exploration of the self. Handmade wasp nests and cages full of old liquor bottles hang from above in this forest of the subconscious. They are overt allusions to danger while the bird’s nests allude to safe havens.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2007
• Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa Barbara
2005
• Marc Swanson, Bellwether, New York
2004
• No Big Cowboy Can Do the Little Things I Do, Julia Friedman Gallery, Chicago
2003
• Live Free or Die, Bellwether Gallery, Brooklyn
2001
• At First Sight, Bellwether Gallery, Brooklyn
1999
• The Black Party, ESP Gallery, San Francisco
1998
• God Bless the Children of the Beast, Tensta Konstall, Stockholm, Sweden
1997
• Sub-Zero/Escene, San Francisco
1996
• Nature’s Way, Showroom, San Francisco
Conclusions:
Marc Swanson exhibition is a representation of the artist’s continuing pursuit of self-awareness via the artistic process. Consisting of three main components, it is as if the work has been dreamed up by Swanson’s subconscious manifesting in glitter and etched mirror-paintings, hand-made glass sculptures, and a large-scale dioramic installation.
What to Do Next…
If you want any information about Marc Swanson or looking for his paintings please visit us on http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/marc_swanson.htm
View Marc Swanson paintings, biography, solo exhibitions, group exhibitions and resource of Marc Swanson. View art online at The Saatchi Gallery – London contemporary art gallery. Marc Swanson
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