Past Exhibitions
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MARK KARNES
Observations in Light September 14 - October 10, 2017 Opening Reception: Thursday, September 14, 5-7 PM |
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Focusing on quiet scenes composed of everyday spaces, objects, and people, Mark Karnes's intimate artworks fall within the tradition of Vermeer and Vuillard, observing the quietest aspects of domestic life. Despite their small size and plain components — bottles, jars, pincushions, postcards — Karnes's still lives are striking in their treatment of the depiction of light.
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“Like all great painters of the near-at-hand, Karnes’ work reminds us that beauty is to be found everywhere, at both expected and unexpected moments, and with every turn of the head. In the first of his Letters to a Young Poet, the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke formulated this aesthetic challenge: “If your daily life seems poor, do not blame it; blame yourself, tell yourself that you are not poet enough to call forth its riches; for to the creator there is no poverty and no poor indifferent place.” Almost in direct response to Rilke’s words, Karnes has been making paintings and drawings in and around his northern Baltimore home for more than 30 years.
- Excerpt from American Artist, “Mark Karnes: Intimate Paintings and Drawings” by Ephraim Rubenstein, 8 Feb 2008 |
About the Artist
Mark Karnes received his B.F.A. in painting from the Philadelphia College of Art and his M.F.A. from Yale University. He is the recipient of awards and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Fulbright program, the Ford Foundation, the Maryland State Arts Council, and the Baltimore Museum of Art. Karnes’ work is in several major collections including the National Gallery of Art, in Washington, DC. He has served as a professor at The Maryland Institute College of Art, in Baltimore, for more than 30 years.
