Mark Makers | Denver Exhibition

A single mark creates a dot. An extended mark becomes a line. A cluster of marks become a shape. A series of repetitive marks becomes a pattern. Marks can be descriptive, expressive, conceptual or symbolic. They may be bold and clearly state an intention, or they may be so subtle that the concept is only perceived by the viewer’s subconscious. In this group exhibition, see the artist’s hand as their own unique mark making is exhibited through varying mediums.

ANA ZANIC’s abstract paintings are built with layers of washes, intermixed with dynamic lines, scribbles and marks of ink drawing. There is often a quiet tension between the watercolor’s fluidity, softness and calm, vs. the dynamic rhythm and energy of drawing. The spontaneous and gestural activity of mark making in her work is closely tied to calligraphy, language and symbolic communication.

MARY MACKEY’s work has always been about composition and color. Whether its photography, printmaking, painting or ceramics, her work is a process that changes the outcome in very different and unexpected ways. When these changes happen, she learns to let go and follow it to a new and different conclusion. Mary will be presenting her newest work, full of vibrant color, fluidity and presence of the artists’ hand.

BRIGAN GRESH’s newest series “Marking Presence” hurls us into a hinterland, where you must earnestly beseech any foreign humanity for a place to cling and flourish. In this exile to traverse both internal and external landscape filled with bewilderment, dismay and heartache, you find there is dawn, breath and hope; hope that all living things have the ability to compose home.

ELLEN MOERSHEL is drawn to painting in abstraction by how imagination can be transposed within the confines of a medium. Try as she might to control the paint, she must be open to and celebrate change in direction and that the process of making each piece will be a new experience every time. Her interest lies in (barely) toeing the line from abstraction to representational painting, taking inspiration from impressionistic styles and color compositions.

BRANDON REESE’s current works are constructed of salt glazed stoneware and reclaimed native wood. He combines the clay and wood to bring emphasis to both materials and making the viewer more aware of the character of each. His work plays to his belief that the best part of life is the process - that true success comes when you can wear all of the marks that life leaves with beauty and grace, allowing them to become part of you and serving as mementos of where you came from and how you got there. Brandon’s art wears the fingerprints, cuts, dents, and other texturing as a roadmap and documentation of its creation.

JULIE MAREN’s installation “Biophilia” speaks to humankind’s intrinsic biological connection to and need for connection with nature. This flexible and adaptive installation plays with biomorphic patterns and natural and synthetic materials as a way to remind us that we are part of nature and not separate from it.

PATRICIA FINLEY’s latest body of work is about the exploration of marks in color fields. She has long been drawn to the elegant simplicity of color fields. In this work, marks interrupt the clean structure of each layer of color. The marks create the illusion of texture by suggesting shifting layers of movement; the result is a portfolio both simple and ethereal.

An opening reception will be held on Friday, May 11, 2018, 5-9 pm at the gallery in the Prado building on 11th & Cherokee Streets in Denver’s Golden Triangle Museum District. The reception is free and open to the public, and the artists will be in attendance.

The exhibition is on view through Saturday, July 7, 2018 during regular gallery hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 11am-5pm, or by appointment. For further information call 303-355-8955, or visit: www.walkerfineart.com.

Walker Fine Art is a member of the Golden Triangle Museum District and the Denver Art Dealers Association.

The gallery is located just blocks from the Denver Art Museum in the Prado building on 11th Avenue and Cherokee Street (entrance on Cherokee).