ARTIST’S STATEMENT

Batman, Iron Man, Spiderman and the Rawhide Kid.

These characters are childhood memories of the ultimate man – the Dad every boy wants, the man every boy wants to grow up to be. My hand knit acrylic re-creations of these heroes’ costumes combine their heroic, protective, ultra masculine, yet vulnerable personas with the protective gestures of my mother – hand knit acrylic sweaters meant to keep me safe from New England winters. The costumes are life-size, my size, wearable objects that hang limply on hangers challenging the standard muscular form of the hero and offering the space for someone to imagine themselves wearing the costume, becoming the hero. They become the uniforms I can wear to protect my family from the threats (bullies, murderers, terrorists, pedophiles, and fanatical messianic characters) we are told surround us.

The Patriot, Sweatermen, Every-Any-No Man, Y-Man, and Bobbleman are heroes of my own invention. They push the image of the hero by highlighting knitting materials, textures, and traditions (cables; the use of “ends” to make a sweater; red, white, and blue variegated yarn) in the form of the costume. Some of the color and texture choices are based on the sweater’s my mother made, her love of cables and her color choices. In these I work to forge the link between childhood experience and adult understanding of protection, masculinity, and heroism.

Bobbleman continues that exploration by covering the torso and other areas of the costume with the decorative textural knit bobble. In the color of the costume and their abundance these bobbles become like nipples, breasts, acne, or tumors run amok. The hero’s costume may be betraying his body, revealing the vulnerability of the flesh no matter how finely sculpted. They also remind me of shamanic garments that are covered by small packets meant to protect the wearer. Perhaps these are then a form of armor, a talisman or piece of magic that enable him to perform his self appointed duties.

Y-Man brings together a reference to genetic code and biological predispositions towards certain behavior based on having a y chromosome with the unpleasant mixing of beige, grey, and blue in one skein of yarn. The yarn looked to me like someone’s idea of a nice conservative color mix (since it is three safe colors worn by businessmen) gone wrong. The use of maroon for the emblem, mask, boots, and gloves mimics the notion of power colors for ties. So this reinterpretation of a business suit gets combined with a reference to the chromosome that defines biological maleness to explore how colors project qualities that reinforce or contradict heroic qualities.

The prints and photographs are my opportunity to expand the narratives the suits suggest to me. The photographs combine personal and social concerns – children drowning in backyard pools, the development of the environment – with the masculine notion of action to explore how these characters function in a world like our own. The prints return the heroes to their comic book origins exploring the visual language of comic books like thought balloons and words like “POW” along with the genesis of Sweaterman, his super power and how he functions in the world.

b. 1964, Amsterdam, NY

EDUCATION:
1991 Master of Fine Arts. School of the Art Institute of Chicago
1986 Bachelor of Fine Art. Kansas City Art Institute SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
2006
Ready for Action, here gallery, Bristol, United Kingdom. Superheroics, San Diego State University Art Gallery, San Diego, California.
2005
My Heroes, Lyons Wier Gallery NYC, New York, New York.
Mark Newport: Super Heroics, Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe
Lyons Wier Gallery, New York
Arizona State University Art Museum, Nelson Fine Arts Center, Tempe
Mark Newport: New Works, Chicago Cultural Center
2004
Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle
2000
Samplers and Plaques, Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle, WA
1999
Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle, WA
Charleston Heights Art Center, Las Vegas, NV
1998
LyonsWier Gallery, Chicago
1997
Western Washington University Art Gallery. Bellingham, Wash..
Faithfully Yours... The Lusty Lady Gallery, Seattle, Wash..
1996
Acts of Devotion, Lyons Wier and Ginsberg Gallery, Chicago, Illinois.
Mark Newport - Sculptures, Lamar Dodd Art Center, Lagrange College, GA
The Writer's Place, Kansas City, Missouri.

GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
2006
Pop: Contemporary Textiles Influenced by Popular Culture, Northern Illinois University Art Museum, DeKalb, Illinois. Catalog.
Quirks of Art, Quirk Gallery, Richmond, Virginia.
2005
Warning: Contains Graphic Images, A Social Commentary Through Comics, The Union Art Gallery, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Milwaukee
Hanging by a Thread,” The Moore Space, Miami, Florida.
Extra / Ordinary: Fiber Artists Rethinking Art and Everyday Life, The Cube at Beco, Kansas City, MO.
2004
Face Off, Ronald Feldman Gallery, New York, New York.
Democracy in America: Political Satire Then and Now, Arizona State Art Museum, Tempe, AZ.
Stitch, Robischon Gallery, Denver, Colorado.
2003
Pins and Needles, John Michael Kohler Art Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
Common Thread, Memphis College of Art, Memphis, Tennessee.
2002
Scope Miami: lyonswiergallery, nyc
Mark Newport, Clare Verstegen, and Bruce Clark, Louis Carlos Bernal Art Gallery, Pima Community College, Tucson, Arizona.  
Comic Release: Negotiating Identity for a New Generation, Regina Gouger Miller Gallery,
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans,
Louisiana, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, The Western Gallery,
Western Washington, University, Belllingham, Washington. Catalog.
Art San Francisco, with Greg Kucera Gallery, of Seattle
2000
SOFA New York. Represented by: Lyonswier Packer Gallery, Chicago
Art Chicago 2000, Represented by: Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle, WA
Materials, Process and Object: Expanding the Practice of Fiber Art, Prichard Gallery, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID
Material Evidence, Reed Whipple Cultural Center, Las Vegas
Game Show, Bellevue Art Museum, WA
1999
SOFA Chicago. Represented by: Lyonswier Packer Gallery, Chicago
Loveland Art Museum, Loveland, CO
1998
SOFA, New York. Represented by:Lyons Wier Gallery, Chicago Muse of the Millennium: Emerging Trends in Fiber, The Nordic Heritage Museum, Seattle
1997
Boy Oh Boy, Newmark Center Gallery, Seattle, Wash..
Fiber Art 1997, Rule Modern and Contemporary Gallery, Denver, Colorado.
SOFA, Lyons Wier Gallery, Chicago
Celebrity: Figures of Worship, Fame, Fortune, Heroism, and Infamy, Greg Kucera Gallery at Bumbershoot, Seattle
Luminous Code Photo - Based Artworks, College of the Mainland, Texas City, Texas and Centerspace, Austin Texas. Catalog.
ArtFair, Seattle, Washington State Convention Center, Seattle
1996
Sculpture, Objects, and Functional Art Exposition, Lyons Wier Gallery, Chicago, Illinois.
National Summer Faculty Invitational, Arrowmont School of Arts and
Pleasure (Beyond Guilt), Artemisia Gallery, Chicago, Illinois.
1995
Sculpture, Objects, and Functional Art Exposition, Lyons Wier Gallery, Chicago, Illinois.
Men In Action, Dolphin. Kansas City, Missouri.
Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition, The Contemporary Gallery of the Museum for Textiles, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Fiber As Sculpture, Parkland College Art Gallery, Champaign, Illinois.
1994
Artists Invite Artists, Kingston Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts.
Jerry Bleem, Mark Newport, and Carrie Seid, The Sybaris Gallery, Royal Oak, Michigan.
Knots and Nets Universal Connections, Ellipse Arts Center, Arlington, Virginia. Catalog.
Jerry Bleem and Mark Newport, Contemporary Gallery, The Museum for Textiles, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Fiber Invitational Exhibition, Lyons Wier Gallery, Chicago, Illinois.
1993
Material Departures: Tradition and Change, Illinois Art Gallery, Chicago Artspeak: Works in Abstract, Hinsdale Center For the Arts, Hinsdale, Ill.
1992
Outer Skin/ Inner Space, Pro-Art, Saint Louis.
Stretching Our Roots, Textile Arts Centre, Chicago.
Knots and Nets: Spiritual Connections, Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Africa. ( Traveling to six venues for two years.) Catalog.
Third Annual Basketry Invitational, The Sybaris Gallery, Royal Oak, Mich .
Material Inquiry, Macalester College Gallery, Saint Paul, Minn. Catalog.
Textile Traditions / Textile Currents, Federal Reserve Bank, Chicago 1991
1991
Extended Boundaries, Springfield Art Association, Springfield, Illinois.
Basketry From All Directions, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
David Crismon, Melissa Leonard, and Mark Newport,” Individual Artists of Oklahoma
1990
Fiber National 1990, Adams Art Gallery, Dunkirk, New York. Catalog.
Art and Ecology: The Artist’s Response, Up Front Gallery, Bloomington, Illinois. Brochure.
1988
Small Forms, Textile Arts Centre, Chicago, Illinois.
1986
Dimensions ‘86, Lenexa, Kansas.
Paper/ Fiber IX, Iowa City Arts Center, Iowa City, Iowa. Catalog.

AWARDS:
2006
Arizona Commission on the Arts Artist Project Grant. Phoenix, Arizona.
2005
Arizona Commission on the Arts Career Advancement Grant. Phoenix, Arizona.
Creative Capital Visual Arts Grant. New York, New York.
2004/05
Katherine K. Herberger Research Grant, Herberger College of Fine Arts, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona.
2003/04
Artist in Residence. Yaddo. Saratoga Springs, New York.
2001
Summer Research Grant. Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington.
2000
Grant - in - Aid. Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington.
1999
Grant - in - Aid. Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington.
1998
Mini -Grant. Bureau for Faculty Research, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA
1997
Grant - in - Aid. Bureau for Faculty Research, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA
1994
Faculty Development Grant. Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, Missouri.
1993
Finalist Award. Illinois Arts Council Fellowship Awards, Chicago, Illinois.
1991
Jurors Award of Excellence. “Basketry From All Directions,” Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, Tennessee.