“Maybe it’s about mapping or tracing the ghost of cities past. It’s the pulling off of a layer and finding another underneath. It’s the reference and the details that point to people saying, ‘We exist; we were here.’”
– Mark Bradford
We are bombarded by advertisements everyday; everywhere you look an ad is reaching out for your attention. From movie posters to products displayed on billboards, cities are bustling with media. From the diversity within a city and the changing of time, layers upon layers of posters can often be found at every turn.
Artist Mark Bradford incorporates remnants of found posters and billboards along with stencils and logos to represent networks that emerge within a city. Bradford transforms materials scavenged from the street into wall-sized collages and installations that respond to underground economies, migrant communities, or popular appropriation of abandoned public space.
“Ridin’ Dirty”
“I’m drawn to collage because it’s the immediate juxtaposition of activity. In the city, I have that same feeling” – Mark Bradford
“Backward C”
“White Painting”
In White Painting, Bradford uses paper exclusively to replicate the effect of paint. Scratching and sanding through the layers to reveal strata of colours and embedded images, his palimpsest surface draws connotations to both abstract expressionism and street art, the sublime traditions of high art with an urban flair that’s explosively contemporary.
“Portable Water”
detail of “Portable Water”
To see more of his pieces vist Art:21.
