Mark Calderon - Show of Hands

Greg Kucera Gallery is pleased to announce our tenth one-person exhibition of work by Seattle artist, Mark Calderon. Always eager to explore a variety of materials, Calderon has created sculptures for this exhibition made of cast bronze, mica, and felt.

The show’s title, Show of Hands, refers to the subject matter of the MANUS series of sculptural objects cut from mica.
"I am aware that my hands are always in front of me, so maybe it was inevitable that they would become a subject for my work as an emblem of human existence and activity. " -Mark Calderon

In some works silhouettes of hands make gestures of resignation, fear, or comfort. MANUS (Reversal of Fortune, pictured below) is based on THE FORTUNE TELLER by Caravaggio, in which a man is having his palm read by a young girl, not realizing she is stealing the ring from his hand in the process. In Calderon’s version the lighter-toned hands play the deceptive role, a turn on the Caravaggio narrative.
The FIGHTER series is based on iconic photographs of Muhammad Ali. Using the soft, warm material of industrial felt in intense vermilion and blue, the artist explores the heroic power and painful vulnerability of the masculine form in moments of victory and defeat.

Biography
Mark Calderon was born in Bakersfield, CA. He received his BA from San Jose State University. The artist has received several “Seattle Artists” awards from the Seattle Arts Commission and been awarded many public commissions throughout the country. He has been the recipient of artist grants from Joan Mitchell Foundation, New York; Artist Trust, Seattle and Art Matters, New York as well as the Seattle Art Museum’s 1986 Betty Bowen Award recipient. Calderon’s work is included in several prominent public and private collections, including: Boise Art Museum, ID; Seattle Art Museum; Tacoma Art Museum, WA. Clark College, Vancouver, WA; Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR; SAFECO Corporation, Seattle and Boeing Corporation, Chicago, IL.