ROBERT MARS: These Important Years
May 9 – June 6, 2019
Opening Reception Thursday May 9th 7pm
Gilles Clement Gallery is pleased to present These Important Years, a solo exhibition featuring recent works of contemporary artist Robert Mars. Mars has produced a body of artwork from his studio in Connecticut that celebrates the commonplace objects and brands and icons of an America long past in a thoroughly modern and exquisitely constructed manner. His work highlights the importance that 1950’s and 60’s icons bear in the context of American and global history.
“The images evoke a feeling of nostalgia, but I am not looking back to the past. I present them in a modern and current way to speak to their continued relevance in decades later. The images remain alive and fresh through modern techniques and applications.” – Robert Mars.
Through the application of a rich and layered color palette and tongue in cheek attitude, Mars’ paintings evoke a vintage quality of design and pay homage to the idealized age of growth and hopefulness that was prevalent in the USA at the end of World War II a time before the internet and mobile technology, when there was no such thing as instant digital celebrities, but rather the myth of unique, untouchable and iconic personalities such as Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Audrey Hepburn and Sophia Loren. Combining vintage wallpapers and quilt patterns, Mars’ delves further into the essence of American culture, incorporating a folk art sensibility into a pop art aesthetic, while capturing the timeless relevance and enduring influence of past and contemporary icons on society, technology, politics and fashion.
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