Mark Ryden, an American painter was born in January 20, 1963. He was named the "godfather of pop surrealism" by the interview magazine. Ryden draws from many sources. He draws his ideas from Ingres, David and other French classicists. What makes the work of Mark so thrilling is that he gets inspiration from anything that can help to evoke memories or mystery. He uses old toys, stuffed animals, skeletons, anatomical models as well as any other thing that help in recalling.
In an interview, mark says that he like for viewers of his paintings to feel the presence of meaning and story but would if they come with their interpretations of the work he does. He does not fancy interpreting for them. He further adds on to say that he believes that if he explains too much of a painting away the painting loses a sense of mystery and curiosity. Some of the imagery that evident in the work comes from something specific; some of it is more subconscious. Some meaning he sometimes consciously imbued into his art; some meaning comes from outside him. It is good if each and every person has or tries to come up with their feel.
Mark Ryden observes how certain elements of disconnection in our societies. He tries to look at the meat that humans consume as food and the animal used for food. At one end, this is an animal and the other end, its food. To him, he sees that there is a little bit of a contradiction, and that is why he still uses the same meat he had used in his earlier drawings (Ryden, 2003:43).
He says that the meat is the physical substance that makes everybody alive. It's through the meat that we exist in reality. Each and every person is wearing a body that and these bodies that we wear are just like garment of the meat. It remains the same way people always feels things with a different taste. Some instead of looking at meat as just an animal, they feel it should target foodstuff.
Mark completed another work showed during the year 2007. During this time, he drew a tree, and the show was dubbed The Tree Show. In this show, Mark explored the modern human experience with their nature. As such, it is the core reason he used a tree. He argued that some people look at the big trees and then they feel some sort of spiritual attachment to the trees (Ryden, 2008:145).
In this work, Mark further observed that there is another group of people who simply want to cut them down just to sell them for money. These category of people when they see the tree, they see a commodity. It showed that Mark has some sort of attachment to the trees as well as nature. As a result, he has used his art several times to raise money for the Sierra Club and Nature Conservancy; often in a bid to help conserve the environment.
Another work of Mark that is worth mentioning is the exhibition referred to as 'The Snow Yak Show.' This exhibition took place in Tokyo. The exhibitions that Mark showed depicted serenity to a greater extent. Here, Mark wanted to show the life of solitude to a smaller extent as well as peacefulness and some elements of introspection. From these three works, it can be clearly seen that Mark likes the human life as well as the environment. That is why he uses different arts to depict the life of mankind. The feel expressed here is that of solitary life. It shows that at times Mark would want to experience some little sense of solitary.
Another work of Mark that thrills took place during The Gay 90's. Notably, it was an old time art show. In this show, Mark presented some work of art which corresponded with the theme of the exhibition that was idealism and sentimentalism observed during the 1890s. It was when the role of kitsch and nostalgia in the current times. He showed to a greater extent attraction and repulsion to the old ways; the irony of life (Ryden& Amanda, 2001:05).
Artist's mind and heart can only be felt by what they give to the world. You can never learn what an artist thinks unless you come close to him or her through what he draws. When Ryden used meat to show the irony of life, it could not be easily understood unless someone does a critical analysis into the reason he chose on that. Someone might try to argue out that he likes meat.
The different types of work done by Mark were tackling what people feel. Notably, it is the main reason he formulated his work. Work of art needs to be felt by the targeted observers. As such, the reason different groups of individuals had a different feel for the work that Mark Ryden did. There are those who did not like him. Evidently, during an interview, Mark said that he was eager to hear what his children had to say about the work he did. Such honest opinion always made him who he is.
Work cited
Patz, Debby. "Undressing for success. (Orange Coast magazine)." Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management 15 Feb. 1994: 56. Print.
Ryden, Mark. Blood: miniature paintings of sorrow & fear / Mark Ryden. Sierra Madre, CA: Porterhouse Fine Art Editions, 2003. Print.
Ryden, Mark. Pinxit. Sierra Madre, CA: Porterhouse Fine Art Editions, 2008. Print.
Ryden, Mark, and Amanda Erlanson. The gay 90's. Sierra Madre, CA: Porterhouse Fine Art Editions, 2001. Print.
