Photo credit Ameila Reed @Ameliajanephoto
Mark Bletcher (b.1995, UK) lives and works in Newcastle Upon Tyne. He received his BA in Fine art from Newcastle University (2019). Bletcher was a recipient of the Gwen May award from Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (2020), shortlisted for the Woon Art Prize (2019) and the Young Contemporary Artist Award (2020). He is a recipient of the Elizabeth Greenshields Award (2023-4). He has exhibited with Ohsh Projects (2023) Northen Print (2023), Newcastle Contempary (2022) and Gallager and Turner (2022). Bletcher is a co-founder of MinutesOn, a project that builds community through conversations with artists.
Mark Bletcher’s work is dream-like. Anxious shapes, curious creatures and strange objects scatter the unreal spaces staged within the work. Sometimes looming figures watch and meddle. There was once a narrative, but it was obscured, and all that remains is a fragment of the story. Bletcher’s work uses the visual language of modern magical realism to explore ideas around subjectivity, narrative, and perception.
Mark Bletcher’s recent work is an exploration of the role of myth in shaping our identity. Inspired by a contemporary engagement with historical fragmented texts, including popular examples like the Iliad, the artist invites us to wonder what might be lost, obscured, or transformed by our limited understating of the past and how these stories can be retold through a modern perspective. The work is informed by research of modern literature as well as queer and social history.
“If the dead are buried in rows then I will draw their feet together so they can dance. If a cavity has been left then I will fill it with plaster. I’m not looking for ghosts or treasure but I’m looking for my friends. I'm looking for friends who remind me of myself and friends that surprise me. I’m looking for a fantasy, a myth, a legend, a history that binds me to this place.”
If you wish to contact the artist please email markbletcherart@gmail.com with your inquiry.
For sales, please purchase work through a gallery or online through Newblood Art.
Image: Dancing lights, 2023, Ink on Paper (Custom Frame) 21 x 21 cm (33.5 x 33.5 cm)