M A R K   C L A R S O N

back to Clarson page        home          artist’s website

Mark Clarson lives and works in Portland, Oregon.  He was born in Dallas, Texas in 1973.  He received his BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and his MFA at the University of Chicago. His work has been exhibited by Bodybuilder and Sportsman Gallery in Chicago as well as numerous group exhibitions at galleries and museums through the U.S.

Mark Clarson works primarily in sculpture using cast bronze and cast aluminum to depict a series of pseudo-historical narratives.  His most recent body of work is centered on his interest in nomad-mysticism as featured in the Mexican tent circuses of the mid-nineteenth century knows as Las Carpas. In this series of work, he depicts fictional characters of the Las Carpas in mythological narratives loosely based on historical texts from the period. His interest in the 1960s counterculture “hippie” movement is also referenced through symbols and vehicles from the era loosely infused with his mythological performers.

Currently the artist is producing a body of work featuring the historical figure Joaquin Murrieta and his following of banditos from the California gold-rush era. In this series, Clarson uses the legend of Joaquin as a launching pad to explore the mythical American West as it relates to contemporary notions of the outlaw mentality of storytelling.