Released: February 24, 2017
Santa Fe Community College presents Ancient Memories: Retrospective of Paintings and Photography of Mark Kane. Opening reception is on March 23, 2017 4-6 p.m. Main Hallway Gallery. Mark Kane taught both photography and painting at Santa Fe Community College from 2010 until his death in February, 2016.
A native of New York, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Brooklyn College. After a brief stint teaching in the public schools, he became a professional photographer. He lived more than 37 years in Santa Fe. His photographs appeared in national and regional publications including The New York Times, New Mexico Magazine and the Santa Fean. In his addition to his work as a photographer, Kane was also an accomplished painter.
During the last three decades of his life, he had about a dozen one-person exhibitions including two shows in New York City: Nikon House in 1992 and Hugo de Pagano Gallery in 1996. He was the featured artist in many Santa Fe galleries including: Jean Cocteau Gallery, Zane Bennett Contemporary, LewAllen Contemporary, Fred R. Kline Gallery, Peyton Wright Gallery and Elaine Horwitch Gallery. Kane’s work was frequently included in prestigious group exhibitions including: Columbus Museum of Art, Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Museo de la Ciudad in Madrid, Spain and Vienna International Center in Vienna, Austria.
Kane had said this about his art: “My work flows in part from the desire to somehow locate and access the deep pulse which flows through all of us, which runs beneath identity and circumstance and underpins our connection to the past and the future, the universe and each other. This may sound ‘large’ but it’s no more, or less, than what manifests in so-called ‘primitive’ work, where wonder and awe for the majesty and mystery of creation and our place in it, seems to be the central driving expression.
The worlds conjured in these paintings are unknown yet somehow familiar, like remote, ancient memory. They are explorations of the power and lyricism of the elemental, the cycles of formation and decay and the radiance of simply being.
For me, making art is an adventure and, like most adventures, an exploration of the unknown. It’s a way to access, investigate, discover, process and reveal. Mostly, I paint because of how it feels, the sensate aspects of the experience and the elation of discovery. Art is a way to travel, unfettered. I work with abstraction as a countervailing impulse to the limitations of everyday perception and consciousness, a way to push boundaries and explore other aspects of what it all is.”
The exhibition is presented by the college and Santa Fe Community College Foundation through the Art on Campus program. For more information about the exhibition contact Art on Campus coordinator, Linda Cassel at 505-428-1855, linda.cassel@sfcc.edu. Images available.
Santa Fe Community College celebrates its 40th Anniversary as the pathway to success for individuals and the community. SFCC provides affordable, high-quality programs that serve the academic, cultural, and economic needs of the community. The college welcomes over 10,000 students per year in credit, noncredit, workforce training, personal enrichment, and adult programs.
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