Mark Bradford, One Of America’s Most Acclaimed Painters At The Venice Biennale 2017

The USA Pavillion at Biennale Venezia, 57th Art Exhibition presented LA Born Artist Mark Bradford's Solo Project and Mythic Rebellion as NY Times wrote. 

Mark's concern: "How can he represent the United States when he no longer feels represented by his government?"

https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-venice-biennales-11-best-pavilions

Image Source - ORACLE

Mark Bradford’s installation and artshow for the 2017 Venice Biennale, curated jointly by the Rose Art Museum and the Baltimore Museum of Art. 

My art loving friend Barbara de Carlo sent this video clip the other day and I was fascinated by Mark's work I never heard before. 

jasonschmidtstudio : “Mark Bradford’s installation at the United States pavilion begins with “Hephaestus,” a heroic poem written by the artist and drawn from Greek mythology as well as from his own biography. It is installed outside of the Jeffersonian-style building on cement-board slabs. Bradford then forces visitors to enter the building from the left rather than through the imposing front door marked with columns. “I don’t think progressive ideas ever come through the front door,” Bradford says. “We always come through the side door, through the window, through the tunnel we bore, we struggle for our identities.” — Kat Herriman

Walk with Mark https://www.instagram.com/p/BUPQZ4LBJbL/

Democracy’s Dark Side and a Glimmer of Hope in Mark Bradford’s Venice Biennale Show. In the US Pavilion, the artist’s work takes on a new context: wrestling with the hypocrisy of Jeffersonian democracy. Article by Cara Ober

Image Source  Gettyimages 

Inside, claustrophobia kicks in quickly with “Spoiled Foot,” an intimidating, site-specific behemoth. Suspended from the ceiling like a dead whale, the piece dominates the darkened gallery, forcing you to scuttle along the periphery. “Spoiled Foot” references a poem Bradford penned about the crippled Greek god Hephaestus, who was cast out of Olympus for his imperfections.

Image Source of the Rotunda Replica detailed article about Mark's Installation 

Installation view, Mark Bradford: Tomorrow Is Another Day, 2017 Venice Biennale, US Pavilion (photo by Joshua White, courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth)

“This a Jeffersonian-type space, something you see in state capitols,” he said, pointing to its central dome. “I wanted it to feel like a ruin, like we went into a governmental building and started shaking the rotunda and the plaster started falling off. Our rage made the plaster fall off the walls.”With a nod to its Palladian architecture, Mr. Bradford often calls his pavilion the White House. As in: “I wanted to bring the White House to me.” - Source nytimes.com

The Spoiled Foot 

MARK BRADFORD. | SPOILED FOOT [DETAIL] 2016. | MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS, LUMBER, LOAN SHEETING AND DRYWALL, UNIQUE DIMENSIONS, VARIABLE. (PHOTO: JOSHUA WHITE, COURTESY THE ARTIST AND HAUSER & WIRTH.) - Source 

Medusa 

Image Source 

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