Mark M. Garrett's UNTETHERED Exhibition to Open 3/21 at Dogpatch Gallery

San Francisco -- Artist Mark M. Garrett is presenting A Solo Collage Exhibition of Reconstructed Maps, titled:
UNTETHERED. Drawing with Scissors. Mapworks by SF Artist Mark M Garrett . The exhibit runs March 21 - April 19, 2014 at the Dogpatch Gallery - 2295 3rd St (@ 20th St.) SF 94107. Opening Reception: Fri. March 21, 2014
- 6:00 - 8:00 pm - FREE - Open to the Public. Cafe & Gallery Hours: 7:00 am - 6:00 pm Daily.

Mark M. Garrett generates work from a variety of materials and sources. In recent years, scissors have become his drawing tool and maps have become his muse.

"The scope of my work has morphed over a period of some 30 years from drawing to painting, from collage to assemblage and back again. I draw inspiration from a variety of sources that seem to find me more than I seek them out. I came across the paper cuttings of Hans Christian Anderson at a time when dramatic life changes left me feeling bare and dislocated. At some point I began to fold paper and 'draw' with scissors... particularly maps or anatomy texts culled from flea markets or estate sales. I often incorporate opaque and transparent watercolor as an extension of the color palette printed on the charts. I find comfort in the creative and obsessive nature of these collages as each reveals a unique process and persona over time. New worlds emerge in oddly emotional interpretations of once familiar places. There's an anticipation as they shift and evolve from factually printed documents to new and potentially fulfilling places of possibility. The technique of hand-cutting old maps and painting in the gaps emerged for me as a metaphor of holding the world even as its outlines shift radically and unpredictably."

The obsolescence of old maps may serve as a metaphor for Garrett's own experience of being un-tethered and then reinventing his connection to art and the world. It may also remind viewers that the boundaries of the world (political, social, cultural) are in a state a flux in a time of instantaneous digital connection. But in the end, one need not see these works as metaphors. The viewer can appreciate them purely as beautiful objects - shimmering, detailed images that seem to break apart and then grow back together as if by magic.
Making these works coincided with a series of life changing events & huge personal upheaval. Garrett secured a studio and rededicated himself to making art after a decades-long hiatus. "My experience of loss and change was like becoming un-tethered from the world as I knew it... in both the sense of liberation and dislocation "

Mark M. Garrett is a San Francisco artist, and maintains an art studio at STUDIO17, a vibrant artists studio collective located in SF's Mission district.

Bio - Mark M. Garrett

Mark M. Garrett's creative path became clear during his 4 years of study at the Memphis College of Art from 1982-1985. He was awarded annual scholarships, as well as the MCA Alumni Traveling Fellowship upon graduation. In 1985 he traveled to Aix-en-Provence, France for a painting fellowship with the Leo Marchutz School & Residency program. Returning to Memphis in 1986, Mark had his first solo exhibition of drawings & paintings at the Looney Street Gallery in Memphis. From 1986-88 Mark established a studio and an ongoing body of work in NYC while working as an art handler for Pace Gallery. The density of NY eventually pushed him westward to SF, where he continued to pursue his artwork in a variety of media and venues, but in a more solitary vein. Mark exhibited in collective shows over the next 2 decades at a variety of SF locations. He designed stage sets for Keith Hennessy's 2002, Neo-Dandy Cabaret as well as The SF Buffoon's 2008 production of Spunk.

Mark also spent the last 25 years as the principal matting and framing technician at the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts and The Western Regional Paper Conservation Lab at the Legion of Honor Museum in SF. His exposure to over 100,000 works on paper for so many years has profoundly informed his vision and sensitivity to working primarily with art on paper. Now a fulltime studio artist, Mark is concentrating on the map-works featured in his upcoming solo exhibition UNTETHERED in March 2014. "I came across the paper cuttings of Hans Christian Anderson at a time when major life changes left me feeling bare and dislocated. The technique of hand-cutting old maps and painting in the gaps emerged as a metaphor of my holding the world even as its outlines shift radically and unpredictably." MMG www.markmgarrett.com

UNTETHERED Exhibition Special Event
Fri. March 28, 2014 - 7:00 - 9:00 pm - Dogpatch Gallery 2295 3rd St (@ 20th St) SF 94117

Sound performance by Jorge Bachman

According to Bachman: "Be ready to be blindfolded, it is going to be a soundscape where one becomes immersed in sound, where the unconscious resurfaces into new sensorial experiences.

The sound samples come from different sources, mostly field recordings of nature and urban locales. They are at times natural, or processed in order to form a new sonic narrative."

BIO - Jorge Bachman - Jorge is a sculpture, photo-based and sound artist. Since the early 80's, he has collected field recordings and exhibited and performed across North America, Europe, Asia and South America. He is the co-founding member of the MEI.collective and has worked with the MoBu Dance Group and the San Francisco Electronic Music Festival, amongst others. Jorge began as a performing artist in Soundwave ((1)) in 2004 and became Technical Director and Resident Artist/Curator in 2005.