MARC BLAKE

Milford Galleries Dunedin18 Dowling Street (03) 477 7727 [email protected]

5th February - 2nd March, 2011

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

MARC BLAKEStatus Update

1. MARC BLAKE, ECHELON (2010), acrylic, graphite, colour pencil, pigment ink & UVLS varnish on board, panel (v x h x d): 460 x 755 x 46 mm

1. DETAIL VIEW MARC BLAKE, ECHELON (2010)

2. MARC BLAKE, Re:Generations (2010), acrylic, graphite, colour pencil, pigment ink & UVLS varnish on board, panel (v x h x d): 736 x 755 x 47 mm

2. DETAIL VIEW MARC BLAKE, Re:Generations (2010)

3. MARC BLAKE, Everything I Can Do to Remember (2011)

acrylic, graphite, colour pencil, pigment ink & UVLS varnish on board, panel (v x h x d): 1201 x 1198 x 46 mm

3. DETAIL VIEW MARC BLAKE, Everything I Can Do to Remember (2011)

4. MARC BLAKE, The Value of Persistence (2011)

acrylic, graphite, colour pencil, pigment ink & UVLS varnish on board, panel (v x h x d): 599 x 965 x 46 mm

4. DETAIL VIEW MARC BLAKE, The Value of Persistence (2011)

5. MARC BLAKE, Future Progressive (2010)

acrylic, graphite, colour pencil, pigment ink, gel ink & UVLS varnish on board, panel (v x h x d): 456 x 384 x 46 mm

5. DETAIL VIEW MARC BLAKE, Future Progressive (2010)

6. MARC BLAKE, Status Update (2011)

acrylic, graphite, colour pencil, pigment ink, gel ink & UVLS varnish on board, panel (v x h x d): 300 x 230 x 47 mm

6. DETAIL VIEW MARC BLAKE, Status Update (2011)

Marc Blake’s first solo exhibition at Milford Galleries in Dunedin showcases an emerging artist

with an absolutely unique and intriguing art practice. Crossing the boundaries of painting

and drawing, landscape and surrealism, two dimensional surface and perspectival space,

past and future, Blake explores the world of dream, memory and everyday reality.

On first glance his works appear simple - sublime, calm, sparse landscapes in which figures,

trees, animals and boats almost float in ethereal space. On closer inspection, the layers of

meaning, compositional elements and narratives begin to reveal themselves and the tension

between the controlled and uncontrollable becomes apparent. Objects are symbols, motifs

are cultural and historical signifiers and figures are characters, all involved in a dynamic and

compelling composition.

Blake explores the opposing nature of illusion and reality. Like a Japanese printmaker he

manipulates the surface pattern to show the viewer both flatness and depth. In ‘The Value of

Persistence’, he plays with the illusionary space, not only alluding to a landscape in the grain

of the wood and the placement of the symbolic elements but also in the expressive and

vivid, profile landscape that although floating, finds a solid grounding in the depth of the

illusional space. This landscape here suggests the development of a signature style,

demonstrating Blake’s ability to introduce an element that is abstract in nature (yet

remarkably representative of wild and unruly bushland) seamlessly and successfully in to a

work that is so tightly constructed. ‘Status Update’ shows a young woman with a cell phone

in her hand carried away in her own illusionary world – a cyber space.

Time is a theme that is recurrent throughout Blake’s work. There is a melding of historical and

futuristic elements and in one illustrated moment he captures the past, present and future.

Blake talks of ‘Re:Generations’ as being “one moment in the infinite cycle of life” yet in that

moment all time is revealed. Ghostly figures recede into the background like memories, the

sky becomes a mix of dusk and dawn and the seasons change the leaves of a tree from

green to gold. ‘Everything I Can do to Remember’ talks of changing memories over time.

Here a young woman takes a photograph on her cell phone of a horse that seems to slowly

fade into the background. Are things ever as we remember them to be?

‘Status Update’ is a powerful and thought provoking exhibition of works that transcend

reality, yet reflect directly on our everyday modern world.

All prices are NZD and include GST; Prices are current at the time of the exhibition

E X H I B I T I O N P R I C E L I S T

1 ECHELON (2010) 2,500

2 Re:Generations (2010) 3,500

3 Everything I Can Do to Remember (2011) 5,000

4 The Value of Persistence (2011) 3,500

5 Future Progressive (2010) 1,500

6 Status Update (2011) 950

Marc Blake 2011 CV Milford Galleries Dunedin www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

P a g e | 1

MARC BLAKE b. 1974, lives Sydney, Australia

Waking Up [JC] 2010

“Memories of what was are left as shadows, rubbed out, scratched off, fuzzy and disappearing into the

coloured wood grain. In areas the background becomes the foreground or the sea becomes the sky

but all of the elements seem to work together, finding grounding in the grain of the wood. The illusion of

three-dimensional space is only suggested by light stains in a natural grain or in the size of the specific

elements in the work.” (1)

“All of my pictures come partly from my own life or experience, but I’m also influenced by external or

global media events too… it’s a combination of what is directly around me in real life, as well as what

we can hunt down intentionally or just stumble across accidentally.” (2)

“I have been predominantly interested during this period in my own local environment of Kings Cross, as

well as a reflection on New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific region during a period of financial

instability and relative future social, political and environmental uncertainty.” (3)

Marc Blake was born in Auckland where he lived and studied gaining a Bachelor of Arts in English

Literature from the University of Auckland. In 2002 he moved to Japan where he lived for four years

before returning to New Zealand and on to Sydney where he now lives and works. Blake has exhibited

regularly since 2002. He has participated in solo and group exhibitions at private galleries and public

institutions including the Kyoto Cultural Museum, BankART Yokohama, and the Auckland Art Gallery. He

has been a finalist in a number of awards such as The Wallace Trust Award and Anthony Harper Award

for Contemporary Art. His works are in private collections throughout New Zealand and abroad as well

as part of the Wallace Trust Collection.

1. Vanessa Eve Cook, Marc Blake- New Text, 2010

2. Marc Blake, 2009

3. Marc Blake, 2010

Marc Blake 2011 CV Milford Galleries Dunedin www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

P a g e | 2

MARC BLAKE b. 1974, lives Sydney, Australia

EDUCATION

Bachelor of Arts (English Literature), University of Auckland

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2010 Status Update, Milford Galleries Dunedin

2008 Nothing Like This, Backspace, Christchurch

2007 Condensed History, Aveia Gallery, Auckland

Where It All Begins, Backspace Gallery, Christchurch

2006 Watergarden, Arts Council Koganecho, Yokohama, Japan

2000 New Paintings, EON, Auckland

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2010 Introducing Marc Blake and Tim Thatcher, Milford Galleries Dunedin

Wallace Art Awards, Auckland

Anna Pappas Gallery, Melbourne

2008 Wallace Art Awards, Auckland

New Zealand Painting & Printmaking Award, Auckland

Anthony Harper Award for Contemporary Art, Christchurch

New Zealand Fashion Week, Auckland

2007 Off The Wall Project, Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland

Light and Dark, Satellite Gallery, Auckland

Backspace, Wellington, New Zealand

2006 In the Midst (with Jos Wheeler) (independent), Auckland

2005 3rd Annual Amuse Artjam, Kyoto Cultural Museum, Kyoto, Japan

FIVE (with Ko Masuda), BankART Studio NYK, Yokohama, Japan

AWARDS

2010 Finalist, Annual Wallace Art Awards

2008 Finalist, New Zealand Painting & Printmaking Award

Finalist, Anthony Harper Award for Contemporary Art

Finalist, Annual Wallace Art Awards

2005 Two month studio residency & exhibition, BankART NYK, Yokohama, Japan

Finalist, 3Rd Annual Amuse Inc. Artjam, Kyoto Cultural Museum, Kyoto, Japan

COLLECTIONS

The James Wallace Trust

Everything I’ve Ever Known (2009)