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Over the past 30 years my work has been a slow progression from using images based on the exterior world to the visual language pioneered by the early abstract artists like Kandinksy and Mondrian. It was a revelation when I first discovered the rich philosophy of abstract art and later the amazing principles of quantum theory. Ever since, my work has gradually adopted the use of symbols, metaphors, and the inherent qualities of paint to efficiently convey the full spectrum of our inner life. Color, fundamental forms, organic shapes and the suggestion of a radiant light have become the language for expressing ideas and feelings.
Combined with the exciting discovery of abstract art and quantum theory, was a life long interest in philosophy, metaphysics, and art history. These interests fused with an appreciation for the beauty of our natural world and are constant sources of inspiration. And at the center of these interests is a deep appreciation for the value of light in all its forms. It is becoming the emphasis and focus of my recent work as I learn to understand how important light is to every aspect of our lives. In many ways my work is a tribute to, and celebration of light: the world of sunlight, and the light of our inner life. I am often engaged in efforts to reflect on the unifying impact of light in both our worlds: our natural environment, our dreams, thoughts, inspirations, loves and challenges. All of which is possible only with light!
solo shows
2004 .Lawrence Gallery, Portland, OR '04
2003 .Palace of Fine Art, SanFrancisco, CA '03
2003 .ComputerWorks Gallery, PalmSprings, CA '03
2003. PushDotStudio, Portland, OR '03
1996-99 The Vault, Portland, OR
1996 Sunridge Gallery, Dunsmuir, CA
1995 Visual Art Center Gallery, Gresham, OR
1994 Sunriver Art Festival, Sunriver, OR
1993 Cedar Mountain Gallery, Portland, OR
1992 The Vault, Portland, OR
1989-91 Gallerie Vienna, Portland, OR
1985 Bush Barn Art Gallery, Salem, OR
group shows
2002 Palace of Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
1994 Nike World Headquarters, Beaverton, ORpublications and awards
1998 Best of Show : Computer Art & Animation Competition
1996 (Fall issue) Oregon English Journal, Portland, OR
1996 (Summer issue) Directions magazine, Mt. Shasta, CA
1996 (Summer issue) Computer Artist Forum, Rancho Mirage, CA
1996 (April/May issue) Computer Artist magazine, Nashua, NH
1995 (issue #34) Art Buyers Guide, Portland, OR
1994 Computer Artist magazine, ("Best of 1994" issue)
1995 Honorable Mention, Computer Art & Animation Show
professional experience
From 1980 to 2002 in the Graphics Arts Industry as lithographer, digital technician & production artist.
education
Studies in painting, computer graphics, art history, & photography at Portland State, Marylhurst and Pacific NW College of Art.
.....As a critic, I look upon Barry Mack's works with an appreciation of their fearless oppositions of darkness and light, their undulating curves juxtaposed with unforgiving spikes, and their foreboding but affecting pictorial vocabulary. Doffing my critical hat and experiencing the works simply as an art lover, I'm more taken in by the otherworldly imagery they depict, whose ambiguity of time and place-and even of dimension-speaks more forcefully to me than would any pat explanations of their subject matter. Are these vistas landscapes or dreamscapes, utopias or dystopias, visions of a world prehistoric or post-apocalyptic?
.....At first, many of Mack's recent works come across as pure abstraction. Then, slowly, the eye grows accustomed to the odd forms and deep chasms that emerge, cloaked in shadow but punctuated by shafts of sunshine slicing down as through ancient Alps. Yet who is to say the initial impression of the works as abstract is wrong? Perhaps they portray no earthly chasm, but fissures in the very fabric of space-time, wherein the fantastical cities suggested in certain works may co-exist in tesseractal realms both ancient and futuristic. .....Considered from yet another perspective, the dramatically plunging "V" shapes that recur in this body of work appear with leitmotif-like regularity, subtly suggestive of human anatomy, such that we cannot know for sure whether their topography is micro- or macrocosmic.
.....Mack's works in the medium of acrylic show a growing confidence in surface effects, which I applaud, and constitute by definition a departure from the glossy-smooth surfaces of his digital prints. Yet the paintings share with the artist's digital explorations an interest in worlds beyond the everyday. They open our doors of perception to realms we may have glimpsed only briefly, in dreams or nightmares, trances or trips, and in doing so, they imply something radical about the relationship of outer space to inner: that the two may, in fact, be one and the same.
.....Richard Speer ... Copyright 2004 by Richard Speer
Visual Arts Critic, Willamette Week (Portland, Oregon), Contributor, ARTnews, Newsweek, The Los Angeles Times, Opera News, The Sacramento News & Review
email: barry mack ... .... b1122 (at) xprt (dot) com.
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