Florida Artists Group

Mark Mitchell is an International Multimedia Artist, specializing in painting Conceptual Pop Art. As a PRATT MANHATTAN graduate, SVA alum, and former advertising Creative Director, he has spent his entire career honing his visual and communication skills. 

Mitchell’s work has been exhibited during ART BASEL MIAMI at SCOPE and SELECT FAIR, SEE | ME Exhibitions at THE LOUVRE and ARMORY ARTS WEEK NYC, GASPARILLA FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS, and featured on FOX13-TV GOOD MORNING TAMPA BAY. In the past few years, he was awarded seven times as ARTSLANT PRIZE SHOWCASE WINNER. 

In early 2016, he launched HIDDEN AGENDA: The Conceptual Pop Art of Mark Mitchell — a large-scale solo multimedia month-long exhibition at THE MELVIN GALLERY at Florida Southern College in Lakeland. He also won a Purchase Award at GASPARILLA FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS in Tampa. 

His work has exhibited at ARTICLES GALLERY, and appeared at the CHIHULY MUSEUM, and DUNCAN McLELLAN GALLERY in St Petersburg. In 2017, he was included in an annual juried exhibition at JF GALLERY West Palm Beach, and awarded a solo exhibition at RED DOOR NO. 5 Gallery Tampa. Mark also won the People’s Choice Award at SOFT WATER STUDIOS St Pete during Fantastic Ekphrastic, a group multidisciplinary show. 

2018-20 has been a productive period, with an HONOR AWARD-winning exhibit at ART FESTIVAL BETH-EL St Pete, selection by pop-surrealism master RON ENGLISH at BATON ROUGE GALLERY, exposure at bG GALLERY Santa Monica, a SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD at ART CENTER SARASOTA, inclusion in a juried show at GAZE MODERN Sarasota, art featured in CREATIVE LOAFING Tampa, selection for a Public Art Commission by REALIZE BRADENTON, and corporate commissions by GREAT BAY DISTRIBUTORS and BANK OZK in St Pete. 

Mitchell is now the proud recipient of the CREATIVE PINELLAS EMERGING ARTIST GRANT 2019-20, and kicked off the year with a solo exhibition at TECO PUBLIC ART GALLERY, Tampa. A WAREHOUSE ARTS DISTRICT Member, he was recently selected for commission by both MODERN TAMPA BAY HOMES and FAIRGROUNDS PROJECTS. Mark will also be the featured artist to be showcased permanently in the lobby and common areas of a new national hotel property, opening soon in the Tampa Bay area (TBA). And he currently has four originals exhibiting on ARTSY.net via bG GALLERY Santa Monica, CA. 

Always in pursuit of “The Big Idea”, Mark has learned how to put concept first, and manipulate imagery to surprise, provoke and reward the viewer. Mitchell’s approach as a fine artist is to draw on the power of mass media and pop culture, while repurposing its icons, imagery and techniques to deliver a more personal artistic statement. Through the use of meaningful juxtaposition and social commentary, Mark Mitchell’s work is an exploration of the irony, contradiction, parallels and harmony to be found in 21st-century life. 

Look deeper. 

In a world where we are bombarded every day by pictures through mass media, what makes any single image resonate with the viewer? What makes it meaningful? What makes it memorable? 

The art that has always appealed to me has never been just a pretty picture. It’s had some extra intangible quality that gave me pause to reflect. Some unique perspective, sense of mystery, an ironic twist or surprising technique that made me stop, pay close attention, and actually think. 

I can remember the first time I saw James Rosenquist’s House Of Fire at The Met in NYC. Amazed by the bold colorful advertising-style imagery on such a grand scale, it was instantly appealing to me. I didn’t understand its oddly juxtaposed imagery, but it was powerful nonetheless—perhaps even more so than the commercial billboards that would compete for my attention as I gazed out the car window on family road trips. Later I discovered Rosenquist was a former billboard painter, and had decided to subvert those same images to an unsettling, mysterious effect—rather than use them to sell us something we may not need. 

Similarly, other modern and contemporary artists have revealed their own unique vision. Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans and Magritte’s The Treachery Of Images forced us to reconsider exactly what art is, or can be. Dali’s The Persistence of Memory challenged our perception of space and time. Picasso’s Guernica shed light on the effects of a violent revolution, while presenting it in a way never seen before. And Banksy has reinvented street art as a vehicle for high-concept socio-political protest. 

This kind of eye-opening art can be especially meaningful today, when it’s becoming increasingly difficult to take anything at face value. We are living in a land of artifice. Spin is the order of the day, as we find ourselves surrounded by a circus of Hollywood celebrities, marketers, politicians, pop stars and special-interest groups—all out to convince us that their story is the one to believe. But when we pull back the curtain, we often find that what we see, is not nearly what we get. 

At its core, my work is an attempt at a wake-up call, by exposing things that may otherwise be hidden from view. Each piece is intended to catch the viewer off-guard, invite them in for further exploration, and challenge them to make connections, find meaning, and ultimately see differently some aspect of the world in which we live.

2020 

State College of Florida, Bradenton, FL

INTERVIEW PUBLISHED IN WADA DIGEST  
Selected for Weekly Featured Artist Profile
Warehouse Arts District Digest, St Petersburg, FL
    
PUBLISHED IN TAMPA BAY TIMES | COMMISSION 
“Imagine Our Post-Pandemic Future” Group Exhibition
Tampa Bay Times, St Petersburg, FL