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A Tea Party with Mark Bryan
by Natasha Dalton
"Art is either plagiarism or revolution." -Paul
Gauguin
When going to meet Mark Bryan for the first time, I was prepared to see
someone not unlike a magician pulling bunnies out of his hat.
" Wear a red dress, like the girlfriend of John Dillinger, so
I can find you," he said. And then he asked, "Should I wear
a red dress too?"
That's the thing about Mark: he is genuinely funny. He is one of those
rare, delightful people who are capable of creating his own universe
and drawing you into it by his feisty humor. Those who use laughter
as their professional tool are not always funny in their off-stage
life (just think of Jerry Lewis or David Letterman, for example),
but Mark's paintings reflect his ability to see the funny and absurd
both in art and in life.
In a way, Mark sees the world the way kids do. In childhood, colors
are bright, images are bold; the difference between friends and enemies
is obvious, but the line between reality and a game is barely there.
It is only as we grow up that we discover a world where what people
say covers up what they really think. Mark Bryan, like a child, doesn't
hide in the grey area of compromise when it comes to his views and
convictions. He says it like it is.
It's no wonder his art appeals to kids. Kids' lie barometers are sharp
and sensitive, and they easily relate to the story-like environment
in Mark's paintings. In-your-face, funny, and clumsy characters don't
put kids off: That's how they themselves draw.
" People in the arts don't quite grow up," Mark say. "Maybe
that's important. Visual art allows you to tell uncomfortable truths
in a charming way and get away with it."
And apparently, he does get away with it. With so much of Mark's latest
work being uncompromisingly political, he doesn't really get too much
flack for it.
" Before the Iraqi war started, and when the Homeland Security
Department kept telling us to buy duct tape to protect our homes from
terrorist attacks, a couple of friends and I went to protest the invasion.
We stood on an intersection in Grover Beach with a poster that read,
"Peace Works Better Than Duct Tape," but we didn't get much
reaction to that. Perhaps people didn't even understand what we were
trying to say.
But he gets a lot of positive feedback at his shows. And one of his
latest works, "Mad Tea Party" has been viewed more than
70,000 times on the Internet alone. He says, "I think people
like work that has a clear idea. There are painters that are great
technically but are not interesting because they are not really saying
anything."
Of course, Mark's own comments are never understated, even though
often presented in a mischievous and bizarre way. Like a dare-devil
brother, constantly pulling pranks on his siblings, he is throwing
our way strange and disturbing images, and you can almost hear a
chuckle from somewhere behind the scenes: "Can you handle this
one?"
" I have many art books at home and I like to look at the works
of others. Sometimes, even if the subject matter in my painting
is quite different, I find some interesting ideas on composition
and color that I might borrow. And some people have noticed that."
" I think it is called "influences," I offer.
" It is a better word than "stealing," Mark chuckles;
"I'll take it."
After graduating from Otis Art Institute in LA, "I made my
living as a carpenter," he says, "and evolving from those
skills I began to create wooden sculpture as well as paintings."
The pieces he was making were quirky and fun, reflecting the spunkiness
of a non-conformist.
Like most of the things and creatures populating Mark Bryan's colorful
world, his "No Rest For The Wicked" chair is as original
as it is dysfunctional, with two human feet and the sitting area
covered with pointed wooden spikes.
It's not a bunny hiding inside magician's hat, but a Screaming Bunny
who is more to Mark's taste. His video sculpture, "Screaming
Bunny," is a large stuffed bunny in a restraining chair with
TV sets placed inside its head showing eyes and a mouth, who seems
a victim of some strange experiment. He screams intermittently and
then calms himself down. "It's OK, It's OK."
"I think he's cute," Mark says." Cute?
"The world itself is a satire. All you're doing is recording
it," said Art Buchwald once, and Mark's talent to do so makes
his work extremely powerful. Arguing validates your opponent; making
fun of him destroys him. Once the public begins to laugh at its
leaders, those leaders had better start looking for a different
line of work.
" Many of your paintings are quite apocalyptic; are you a pessimist?
" I ask Mark, overtaken by the images of fires, explosions,
tornadoes and all kinds of other calamities he bestows on the serene
landscapes in his works.
"The older I get, the more pessimistic I become about humans
and about our future in general," he says. "People don't
face reality. We live this beautiful life here on the Central Coast,
and if we hadn't watched TV and hadn't read the papers, we would've
thought everything is great. But we are rapidly destroying the Earth
and I doubt it can be turned around anymore. I've heard it said
that men never see the writing on the wall until their backs are
up against it. Disappointment in human behavior has made me very
skeptical" he continues.
"When I was a kid, I didn't fit in very well, and I thought:
what's wrong with all these people? Now I look at what's happening
in our government today and think the same thing. I still feel on
the outside and maybe that's why being an artist is so appealing
to me. It allows me to reflect on what I see and to make comments."
However skeptical, Mark still doesn't completely discard a possibility
of mystery and magic in this world. "There are times when reality
doesn't jive with the way I thought things worked at all,"
he says, which explains an image of the supreme divine that is persistent
in Mark's works. He leaves room for hope, and for redemption.
In childhood, magic lives right around the corner. And for the smart
guy who feels compelled to tell the world about the Emperor's lack
of clothes, the best reward is in helping us all to get a better
vision.
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