Mark Bletcher (b.1995, UK) lives and works in Newcastle Upon Tyne. He received his BA in Fine art from Newcastle University (2019). He received the Elizabeth Greenshields Award (2023-4) and received the Gwen May Award from the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (2020). Notably, he has exhibited for the North East Open Call (2024), OHSH Projects (2023), Northern Print (2023), Newcastle Contemporary (2022) and Gallagher and Turner (2022). Bletcher’s work uses the visual language of modern magical realism to explore ideas around identity, narrative, and perception. 

Bletcher’s recent work explores 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 understanding 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 art and social history.

Bletcher is a proponent of the arts and a supporter of social causes. In 2020, Bletcher co-founded MinutesOn, a project that builds community through conversations with artists, and in 2025 Bletcher founded Creative Workshops NE CIC, a North East-based community project that enables people to access arts activities with positive well-being outcomes. He works with various organisations to provide participatory workshops or develop their program on a freelance basis, including NAC, Equal Arts, Newcastle University, The Farrell Center, and many more. 

Bletcher's interests in contemporary social issues include LGBTQ+ identity, mental health, neurodiversity, arts education, and fair pay and provisions for artists. These interests come from lived experience; Bletcher is a queer, neurodivergent artist with an understanding of mental health. 

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.

Mark Bletcher wishes to thank The Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation for its financial support.

Last updated December 2024

Image: Dancing lights, 2023, Ink on Paper (Custom Frame) 21 x 21 cm (33.5 x 33.5 cm)

(Top)Photo credit Ameila Reed @Ameliajanephoto