Mark Nelson – This being: That becomes
05 May 2014 – 25 May 2014
The works of British photo artist, Mark Nelson, reflect magical moments of clarity and completeness. As he describes his state of mind while photographing: “These images come from a place inside…”.
The created imagery is like frames from an imaginary movie with a sense to something, which is about to happen, or has just happened. Like photographs of a wanderer across the favourite cities of the world they show sceneries of various places such as Venice, Paris, Berlin, Brighton as well as New York, New Jersey and San Gimignano.
Being a Buddhist, Nelson links the perspective to the idea of true self, a rich well of natural creativity and vibrancy. In Nelson’s show, This being: That becomes, the thread of similarities of his images over a long period of time seems to point toward a common source, of ‘water drawn from the same well’. In addition to his presented works from the last 30 years sound textures, meant to be a soundtrack to the show, will be an obvious catalyst for visitors as it was for the artist, helping to recreate the dreamlike landscape of the inner self.
Impressed by Abstract Expressionist movement in art, invented in the late 1940s in New York, Mark Nelson has been drawn toward shapes and signs. Revealed as a reaction against the horrors of the Second World War, the process of making art was considered to be more important than the final object. In the photographs of Nelson you often find triangles and arrows pointing to other parts of the image, in a sense of leading us to another place, to a point of reference in the image. Whether his black and white or his colour works his imagery has certain painterly qualities, showing a moment in an eternal buzz of change.
Mark Nelson began his photographic career in London in 1980, as a professional printer to some of the UK’s top photographers. His professional darkroom became ‘First Light Studios’ which is now based in Brighton UK. From 1985, after observing the potential of the photographic printing medium as an art form, he began to discover his own ability to create photographic works in his own style, and continues to do so. He has exhibited worldwide and his works are held in many private collections in the UK, France and the USA. He has worked for ECM records, American Express and was the first photographer to have exhibitions on 300 British Airways aeroplanes simultaneously.
With kind support by Nielsen Bainbridge Group. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue, 60 pages, 2014.
More information about Mark Nelson
