It's been said "find
something that you love to do and you'll never have to work a day in your
life." That notion has worked for Mark Adams for nearly forty
years. From his early flirtation with cubist abstractions past his heavily
Dutch-influenced figurative works of the early 70's into the theatrical world of
dancers and mimes and onto the recontexturalized appropriated fashion series of
the late 80's and all the while including commissioned portraits -- in the words
of Jerry Garcia: "What a long, strange trip it's been!"
---(From Mark Adams' website) Adams is a member of the Daily Painters Art
Gallery (dailypainters.com), a juried gallery of daily painting artists.
As a daily painter, his art blog has numerous paintings in many
genre. Adams has painted a small number of nude paintings. This
exhibit is a selection from those posted on Adams' blog. The quoted comments under the paintings
are edited excerpts from Adams' blog 
"Sleeping Nude" by
Mark Adams 30x40"
Image Copyright © by Mark Adams 
"Study for Nymph" by
Mark Adams
Image Copyright © by Mark Adams
Oil on museum quality, archival ampersand Gessobord™ panel 9x12"
"Nude in the Window" by
Mark Adams
Image Copyright © by Mark Adams 
"Amy in the Studio" by
Mark Adams
Image Copyright © by Mark Adams
Oil on double primed grey board "Everyone dreams of finding a lost Rembrandt
at a yard sale, an undiscovered Vermeer in a dusty corner of a thrift store, a forgotten Dürer
etching sandwiched in the pages of a second-hand book. While this painting of
Amy isn't quite so lofty, it did resurface today, clipped to a forgotten
drawing board, to help me in my hour of need...I'm
not sure of the date of this oil sketch. It is a couple of years
old. I found it clipped to a drawing board behind a stack of paintings.
I remember deliberately painting it on a piece of primed grey backing
board so I wouldn't be tempted to get fussy with it (oops, oh well). The
loose, sketchy nude is the Holy Grail for me. Oh, how I envy those who
can splash around in the paint. It is the curse of the ex-photo-realist;
the inability to fully let go and have fun with the paint, come what
may. Though not exactly archival, I figured if cardboard was good
enough for Toulouse-Lautrec, it is good enough for me. The image is 11"
x 17" painted on a 16" x 20" board." 
"Nude on the Staircase" by
Mark Adams
Image Copyright © by Mark Adams
Oil on museum quality, archival ampersand
Gessobord™ panel 5x7" "I
had a model over yesterday and found some interesting light on the spiral
staircase in the studio. The figure was almost totally in silhouette,
which cried out for a sketch loaded with brushwork. The aura of white gave
an ethereal quality to the figure. Had she been coming down the stairs, I
might have had to give her the cubist/futurist treatment à
la Marcel Duchamp. As it was she was ascending, so my realist
self came through (sort of). It was fun to be loose for a change." 
Study for "Amphictyonis"
- Goddess of Wine by Mark Adams
Image Copyright © by Mark Adams
Oil on archival ampersand Gessobord panel 9x12" "This painting is meant to serve
as a study for a later work. The ambiguous, neutral, slightly floral
background is intentionally vague and shot with Corot-like flicks of green.
I may drop her into a forest Bacchanalia at a later date." 
"Girls in the Garden" by
Mark Adams
Image Copyright © by Mark Adams
Oil on archival ampersand gessobord panel - 6" x 8" "Something a little different. . .I was in
the art supply store today picking up some new brushes when I spied black gesso.
I had heard rumors about it and thought it might be an amusing diversion. Any artist
can tell you that there are few things more frightening than staring at that
bright white rectangle first thing in the morning. That first stroke is a
killer. Painting on a black support, while no less daunting, was great good
fun. You are working backwards, pulling the light and color out of the
darkness. It also allows for more freedom to swish with equanimity, as you are
not plagued with those bits of white shining through." 
"Art Nouveau, Ultra" by
Mark Adams 28x42"
Image Copyright © by Mark Adams Information for Mark Adams:
Blog:
http://www.markadamsstudio.blogspot.com/ -- All of Adams' paintings in
all genre can be found on his blog. All paintings are sold directly by
Adams through his blog or website.
Email: mark@markadamsstudio.com
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