EXPO CHICAGO 2014
MARK FOX EXPO CHICAGO 18 - 20 September 2014 NAVY PIER
BOOTH 709
Robert Miller Gallery is pleased to announce its first year of participation at Expo Chicago, the International Exposition of Contemporary and Modern Art. The gallery will be presenting works on paper, sculpture, and installation by Mark Fox. Painting words in oil, ink, and acrylic, Fox then cuts them from their paper grounds and further corrugates, layers, and reassembles the swirling texts to invite viewers to engage with the words as objects and means for communicating ideas. Oftentimes referencing text ranging from mythology to religious doctrine, the amorphous webs of words reflect the power and delicacy of the texts that Fox has destroyed to create new forms. Building upon his practice which revolves around the interplay between chance and intention, his survey of new works challenge the limits of his medium and bear new meanings and associations from the juxtaposed elements. Fox also makes a handmade version of cardboard, constructed from painted paper elements. Using “private” drawings and “self-damaging” texts as source material, the cardboard, once cut, reveals fragmented “secrets” that are hidden in plain sight within the sculptures’ honeycomb construction. He puts the personal on display and yet renders it impossible to decipher. The rippled cardboard layers of these sculptures may appear transparent or opaque, depending on the viewer’s perspective. The process allows Fox to investigate his interest in works that shift as the viewer moves through space. The exhibition will also feature an edition of polished cut stainless steel, of which offers endless visual reflections and allude to his fascination with narratives that often govern our actions, even though we may not fully understand them. Through the openings in the steel, viewers see their surroundings as well as fragments of their own reflections, conflating into a single plane and causing the steel sculptures to almost disappear. Mark Fox received his MFA from Stanford University and his BFA from Washington University in St. Louis. He has had solo exhibitions at the Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Detroit Institute of Arts, Rice University Art Gallery, the Herbert F. Johnson Museum and the Fabric Workshop and Museum. His work has recently been acquired and exhibited by the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He is also included in the collections of MoMA and the Whitney Museum of American Art, among other institutions.
