A Plymouth artist whose work has received national recognition has teamed up with the B-Bar at the city’s Barbican Theatre to stage an exhibition of paintings.
The exhibition by international selling artist Mark Hannon runs from September 5 until the end of the year and features around 15 original works and a selection of prints.
Mark has entitled the exhibition ‘Deep and Meaningless’ because he says it reflects the surreal, satirical, and humorous nature of his work, which can often at the same time be thought-provoking. The paintings and framed prints are on display in the foyer and either side of the stage area in the bar. Some of the prints with appropriately fitting humour are also strategically placed in the ladies and gents to raise a chuckle.
The exhibition follows recent success for Mark’s paintings, including having his work chosen for the prestigious Royal Society of British Artists’ Annual Exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London for the second year running.
The painting selected this year was ‘Boris Boris’, depicting Boris Johnson standing on huge pork pies with ‘Trust Me’ written behind him. The painting chosen last year was of three people from three generations sitting silently on a street bench in Glasgow as the country emerged from lockdown.
Many of Mark’s paintings reference music, world affairs and politics, and you might spot the influence of the French painter, Magritte, in some of them. He also does portraits and still life paintings:
“There’s often no particular logic to my paintings,” said Mark, “and although some obviously have messages, there are some that come under the nonsensical/surrealist/humorous banner, just a simple play on words.”
Think singer-songwriter Van Morrison in a Morrison’s van and you get the picture!
For his latest painting, ‘Jam and Cream’, Mark has commissioned a special slidable frame which you can use to slide either jam or cream on top depending on your taste or preference:
“But it’s not actually jam and cream, it’s the bands, The Jam and Cream,” said Mark.
“I painted both the bands using various photographic references for each, so they’re interpretations of live performances from their heydays.”
For Mark, this is a return to the paint brush after working many years in graphics, primarily as lead designer for BBC Spotlight, until he left to take up painting again a few years ago. Almost all of Mark’s paintings are acrylics on canvas or board, painted in the loft studio of his home in Mannamead.
The ‘Deep and Meaningless’ exhibition came about after a catch-up between Mark and the owner of the B-Bar, Colin Foster:
“We’ve known each other for many years, and we got chatting. Colin said he’d love to showcase local art so I’ve been working on new paintings which I think will work well in that setting.”
All the originals and prints are available to purchase and can be reserved during the exhibition. The paintings can be viewed during the B-Bar’s usual opening hours. Visit www.markhannon.co.uk
