Artist Proof Interview with Artist: Robert Mars
Global Location: New York
URL: http://www.robertmars.com
AP Shop URL: http://www.zazzle.com/robertmars
Robert Mars’ artwork chronicles an evolving fascination with the Golden Age of American popular culture and celebrates the icons of the 1950s and 60s by taking inspiration from this culture long past. Through the application of a rich color palette and tongue-in-cheek attitude, Mars’ paintings evoke a vintage quality of design and pay homage to the idealized age of growth and hopefulness that was prevalent in the USA at the end of the Depression. A time before the internet and mobile technology, where information was not instantly available to millions and there was no such thing as instant internet celebrities, and instead people lived with the myth of the unique, untouchable and unforgettable personalities of Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, James Dean, Audrey Hepburn and Elvis Presley.
By merging his own concept of personal idols with those of mainstream culture, Mars is able to focus his work on a deeper analysis of the Golden Age of American personalities. As an artist, he has always been fascinated with 1950s and 60s culture, and his early work reflects many of the architectural and mechanical icons from this era. Muscle cars, motels, logos and hulking monuments to the “modern” feeling of the time permeate his early canvases. More recently however, Mars’ artwork has shifted toward the culture of celebrity and he is amazingly attuned to the fact that these instantly recognizable and larger-than-life personalities continue to resonate with contemporary American culture.
A graduate of Parsons School of Design in New York, Mars begins the creative process by preparing his surface with multiple layers of brown paper in order to define the edges and delineate the background planes of color. He then alternates layers of paint and vintage paper ephemera, sanding away portions of the layers as he works, revealing the desired portions of under painting with the overall intention to provide the viewer with a muted window into America’s past. Chronicling this fascination with 1950s and 60s iconography, Mars has produced a body of artwork from his studio in New York that celebrates the commonplace objects and icons of an America long past, in a thoroughly modern and exquisitely constructed manner. His eye for a distinct facet of American history is impeccable and his ability to manipulate the color and wordplay of vintage printed material has earned him reference with the likes of Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, and Richard Diebenkorn among other masters from the School of Pop. Robert Mars’ artwork is exhibited worldwide including museum collections in Munich, Tokyo, Amsterdam, London, Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, Atlanta, Aspen and Naples. His artwork has also been selected for the upcoming Absolut Vodka 2011 campaign alongside his contemporary peers and he was also recently commissioned by Oceania Cruise Lines to create site specific pieces for their newest cruise ship, the Marina.
AP: How long have you been making art for and what lead you to start.
RM: I have been making art as early as I was able to hold a crayon. I don’t think I had a choice in the matter. Art was all I ever really cared about until I found a skateboard.
AP: Where do you currently live and work and how does this influence your work.
RM: I live in New York City. I feel the hustle of the city. The constant crazy energy and motion has a huge influence on my work. I live in a city with access to everything 24 hours a day and it motivates my art.
AP: Did you have formal training if so what$B&X(B If your self taught can you tell us what you prefer about being a self taught artist vs having formal training.
RM: After high school I studied graphic design and Illustration at Parsons in New York. I always leaned more towards fine art but thought it may be harder to make a living. Formal training has pros and cons. You walk away with a degree that people are impressed with but sometimes universities become assembly line and rigid in their training and graduates tend to have a similar style.
AP: Can you tell us about where you make your work is it in your house, a studio etc.. and how it effects your work.
RM: I have a studio separate from my house. I like it that way so I can have separation of my work life and my family life. I also like that I go to a place that I have to be structured and manage my time to get things done.
AP: What are some of you favorite design projects/exhibitions you have worked on to date.
RM: I just finished the Absolut Vodka Blank campaign. 16 artists were given a bottle shaped canvas and we each did our thing. Its a great line up of artists and I am proud to be a part of it. My last exhibition in Bulgaria was also a great experience. The gallery was so professional and I was a guest on their morning show, a Jazz radio show, multiple magazine interviews and lectures. I felt like a rockstar.
AP: What is your medium of choice.
RM: Collage has always fascinated me. I love building layers and then exposing what is underneath. Then building up again. Its always a new experience to give up control to sand paper!
AP: What is the relationship between technique and content in your work.
RM: Content and technique go hand in hand for my work. Conceptually my art looks back to what I feel is Americas Golden Era. The 1950s and 60s. My technique allows me to express the authentic color palette from that era and the vintage ephemera that I use for collage allows me to reinforce my ideas utilizing maps, advertisements, and photos from then.
AP: Who are some of the artists that have inspired you and or your work.
RM: Robert Rauschenberg has had a huge impact on my work and who I am as a person. His humble demeanor always inspired me. He let his work speak for itself and it always was clearly a Rauschenberg. I admire Warhol for his icons, Jasper Johns for his texture and graphic boldness. Richard Diebenkorn for his structure in abstraction. For todays artists I love
Thomas Campbell for his line quality and unique visual language. Barry McGee for his overall vision.
AP: In what direction would you like to see your work going over the next five years.
RM: In the next two years I want to explore three dimensional works. I have an idea for sculpture that I want to make work and to continue forward with my current body. I think that it will also be affected positively as I explore new mediums.
AP: What forth coming projects and or exhibitions do you have scheduled for 2011.
RM: I am represented by galleries in the states as well as abroad. I have no specific shows lined up but my galleries are always requesting new work. I have a commission for Oceania Cruise Lines that I am working on which will be a great experience. Their ships are works of art in themselves and it is nice to see your work in a grand setting.
AP: Take us on a guided tour through a day in your life as an artist.
RM: I wake up at 6. Take care of our child with my wife and then leave for my studio around 8. I mentally prepare my day on the train ride or bike ride in. It depends on what stage I am at with my pieces but it could be anything from applying paint layers, cutting collage materials from magazines, running to the art store, or resin coating finished pieces. Its always new which makes it always exciting.
AP: Thank you so much for taking the time to answer our questions.
