FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: DECEMBER 1, 2024
CONTACT PERSON: EMILY COLUCCI PEAK, VISUAL ARTS COORDINATOR
SUBJECT: MARK BROSMER EXHIBIT AT THE THYEN-CLARK CULTURAL CENTER
EXHIBIT DATES: DECEMBER 5th – February 28th, 2024
FIRST THURSDAY RECEPTION & GALLERY TALK:
Thursday, December 5th, 2024 from 5-7pm (Annual Holiday Volunteer Thank You Reception)
*Also- Thursday, January 2nd, 2025 and February 6th, 2025 from 5-7pm
Jasper Community Arts is pleased to present the work of former Jasper artist now residing in Los Angeles, CA, Mark Brosmer for the months of December 2024, January 2025, and February 2025 at the Thyen-Clark Cultural Center. The solo exhibition titled; ‘All Over the Map’ will feature a variety of over 80 breathtaking paintings.
Mark Brosmer is best categorized as a hyper-realistic painter with a surrealist edge. Deciding he liked the outcome of drawing with crayons at age 3, his pursuit of an artistic career has been focused since college. Initially a psychology student at the small, all-male liberal arts Wabash College in Crawfordsville, IN, Mark was encouraged by his art professor, and became one of several students and professors who were instrumental in getting Fine Art Declared as a major.
He then became one of four students who were allowed to graduate as an art major from the college in 1985. His technical prowess with a brush has continued evolving, leading him to become known as a master realistic painter, with the LA Times covering his show at the Brand Library as “big bold and surreal in an orderly way.”
Brosmer stated, “I consider myself very fortunate that I am able to work full-time doing something I love. Being an artist is very challenging, especially if you start off as I did, receiving a lot of rejection letters in the beginning. I remember using the phrase, “I haven’t sold anything yet, but”…..eventually sales started to occur, and my work was accepted into the LA Art Association and LACMAs’ Art Rental and Sales Gallery, which gave a nice boost to my art career. My first show was in a photographer’s loft in Hollywood. At 9 PM the lights were turned off for a disco dance party, and I had to show prospective buyers my art with the help of a BIC lighter. Thankfully I am now able to show my work in higher-end contemporary art galleries.”
Brosmer’s big move to LA, in his words was definitely one of the most important decisions he ever made. Brosmer chose it not only because he had two friends who had just moved there, but after a short visit, he felt at home. “I think it was a combination of elements – the light, the people, the gorgeous landscape, the burgeoning art scene, the generally great climate, and of course, accessibility to anything and everything! It was definitely a huge change from Indiana.”
People often comment on the unusual subject matter Brosmer paints, along with the way he treats those subjects. “I enjoy painting clouds, and somehow trying to contain them through man-made devices. My clouds have been caged, tied down with rope, and enclosed with chicken wire. That idea led me to the concept of combining the ethereal quality of clouds juxtaposed with the clarity of the sharp edge of post-it notes”, said Brosmer.
Brosmer also paints glass block paintings, which allow him to explore abstraction within the confinement of tight realism, the same idea he utilized when painting the raindrop- on-window-
panes collection. “My musical tastes are also widely divergent. I listen to alternative and eclectic music in the morning and tend to lean classical in the afternoon and evening”, says Brosmer.
In combination to the opening of Mark Brosmer’s solo exhibit on display, the festive celebration of the Annual Holiday Volunteer Thank You Reception will also take place throughout the Thyen-Clark Cultural Center on the same evening of Thursday, December 5th.
Mark will join us for the evening to give a Gallery Talk at The First Thursday Reception on Thursday, December 5th from 5:00 – 7:00pm. Free event and open to the public.
The galleries at the Thyen-Clark Cultural Center, located at 100 3rd Avenue, Suite A, Jasper, IN 47546, are open to the public Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Saturday from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, and Sunday from noon to 3:00 pm. School groups, clubs, and students are welcome. Admission is free. Donations appreciated.
For more information, please call 812-482-3070. Jasper Community Arts is a department of the City of Jasper. JCA is supported in part by Friends of the Arts, Inc., the Indiana Arts Commission, The Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana, and the National Endowment for the Arts.