Opening Reception:
Friday, June 24, 7-9 p.m.
Student Welcome Back Party:
Tuesday, August 30
MARK NEWPORT: Super Heroics
For centuries, knitting has been associated with the feminine — from medieval portraits of the Virgin Mary beatifically purling to Grandma’s treasured knit afghans. Arizona artist Mark Newport, however, views knitting and related domestic textile arts in quite a different way. For him, they are symbols for understanding masculinity and brute strength — and the unlikely means by which he is able to create the iconic wardrobes of the superhero. Through methods traditionally associated with female cultural identity, Newport expresses his own ideas about male identity in American society in this, the very first museum solo exhibition of his work.
About the artist
Mark Newport was born in 1964 in Amsterdam, New York, and currently lives in Mesa, Arizona and works in Tempe, Arizona as a member of the faculty of the ASU School of Art. The artist did his undergraduate studies at Kansas City Art Institute (’86) and went on to earn an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (’91). The artist has recently exhibited at the following venues: Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle, Washington; Lyons Wier Gallery, Chicago, Illinois; John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan. Wisconsin; Regina Gouger Miller Gallery, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Galerie Edward Mitterrand, Geneva, Switzerland; Western Washington University Gallery, Bellingham, Washington; The Lusty Lady Gallery, Seattle, Washington; Archer Gallery, Clark College, Vancouver, Washington.
ASU Art Museum Presentation
Organized by John D. Spiak, MARK NEWPORT: Super Heroics will be installed in the Arizona State University Art Museum’s Nelson Fine Arts Center location.
Duration
MARK NEWPORT: Super Heroics (June 25 through September 3, 2005) is open at the ASU Art Museum: Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Support
The exhibition and related programs are supported in part by Friends of the ASU Art Museum.
Acknowledgements
The artist gratefully acknowledges the support of Creative Capital, the Corporation of Yaddo, Greg Kucera Gallery, and the Herberger College of the Arts.
Image credit: