Figural Classicist • Painter • Author

Mark
Strickland

Four decades of drawing, painting and sculpting the human form — monumental works that confront the human condition with unflinching emotional intensity.

"If you, like many, have been missing the image of humanity in art in recent years, you need look no further than the work of Mark Strickland." — Peter Clothier, Author of "Hockney"
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"My paintings are about that assault on our perceptual system — the phenomenon of people anesthetized by social discomfort, those who have remained connected and painfully aware. We are victims of social impotence; our perception is smeared by high-speed, over-saturation of mental and emotional stimuli, and our own anxiety causes us to shut down into numbing comfort."
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Mark Strickland

A Life Painted
in Bold Strokes

Mark Strickland has been drawing, painting, and sculpting the human form for over 40 years. A figural classicist at heart, he is an immensely gifted and versatile artist — comfortable with epic narrative, yet equally capable of producing work cryptically informed by the immediacy of its incongruent opposites. Straddling High Expressionism and New Traditionalism, his work conveys a perspective filtered through a prism of humanitarian force and emotional intensity.

An adjunct professor at Art Center College of Design for 34 years and former faculty at UCLA, Strickland has exhibited at the Grand Palais in Paris, RAFFMA Museum, concentration camp memorials in Dachau and Flossenbürg, and galleries across Southern California, Italy, France, and Germany. His work has been featured on the Emmy-winning television program "E.R." and covered by the Los Angeles Times, Art in America, and international press.

Art Center College of Design, 34 Years UCLA Faculty Walt Disney Imagineering Grand Palais, Paris RAFFMA Museum B.A. Psychology, UCLA M.A. Art/Psychology, CSULB

Authenticity of Touch

The entire scope of Mark's expression in drawing, painting and ink is informed by a meditation on "how to touch." The range of touch expression with hand, brush and palette knife reflects every conceivable human emotion — tenderness, compassion, fear, remorse, disgust, violence, "touching a soul," prayer and, not the least, pleasure.

It is this "meditation on touch" that gives viewers the experience of something authentic within themselves.

Authenticity of Touch
From the Book
Body of Work

Explore by Series

I

Monumental Work

British Petroleum • Resurrection of Liberty • Gaza • Broken Angels • The Choice • Atonement • Indomitable Spirit

II

Ink Paintings

Bold explorations in ink — raw, immediate, visceral expressions of form and emotion

III

Subway Series

Urban observations captured in motion — humanity underground, in transit, in between

IV

Drawings

The foundation of touch — line, gesture, and the immediacy of hand to surface

V

The Human Form

Studies in anatomy, spirit, and the body as vessel of lived experience

VI

Portraits

Faces as landscapes — each one a world, a story, a confrontation with the self

Exhibitions & Recognition

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2018
"All Too Human: The Art of Mark Strickland"
RAFFMA Museum, CSUSB • Essay by Peter Frank
2012
Solo Exhibition
Fremont Gallery, South Pasadena
2010
Solo Exhibition
L.A. Artcore, Los Angeles
2007–09
"Children of Dachau" / Memorial Exhibitions
Dachau & Flossenbürg Concentration Camps, Germany
2005
"La Condition Humaine"
L.A. Artcore • Catalogue by Peter Clothier
2001
Solo Exhibition
Studio De Fazio, Rome, Italy
1996
"Memories, Dreams and Reflections"
Koplin Gallery, California
1994
"Les Artistes Français"
Grand Palais Museum, Paris, France
1987
"Subway Series"
Lizardi Harp Gallery, Pasadena

Awards & Press

2017
Netflix Interview with Scott Williams
International press: EFE Spanish World News, HOLA
2009
Honorary Membership
Rotary Peace International
2002
Individual Artist's Grant Award
Pasadena Cultural Affairs
1998
Paintings featured on "E.R."
Emmy Award-Winning Television Program
1996
Selected #1 out of 10
Los Angeles Times, 72 Hours
1986–97
Artist's Register
Art in America
1987
Featured
Art Forum Magazine, International
Ongoing
Faculty, 34 Years
Art Center College of Design, Pasadena

Full CV, exhibition history, and provenance documentation available upon request. Contact us for the complete record.

As Featured In
Los Angeles Times Art in America Art Forum International Netflix EFE Spanish World News HOLA E.R. (NBC) Grand Palais Catalogue

The Mark Strickland Story

An intimate documentary exploring Mark's journey — from the roots of his creative vision to the monumental works that have confronted the human condition across four decades.

"Painting or any other art form can be a way to turn pain, fear and victimization into flowers of calmness and wisdom. It can be used as a meditation for facing our fears from a sacred place of compassion for others, as well as ourselves."

— Mark Strickland

"The exercise of 'feeling' that we are made more of light and compassion than of flesh allows us to break down the barriers between us."

— Mark Strickland
The Art of Mark Strickland
The Art of
Mark Strickland
Introduction by Peter Clothier, Author of "Hockney"
This 278-page book represents 30 years of painting by an important American figurative artist. 187 reproductions beautifully laid out in a 10.5" × 12" cloth-bound edition. Introduction in English, Italian, French, and German.
Published by Art Works Fine Arts Publishing, 2011 278 pages • 187 reproductions • 10.5" × 12" • Cloth-bound

Chapters Include

Authenticity of Touch Monumental Work Ink Paintings Subway Series Drawings The Human Form Portraits Evolution of Imagery
Also available at: Norton Simon Museum • Pasadena Museum of California Artists • Vroman's, Pasadena • Hennessey & Ingalls, Santa Monica • Art Center College of Design
$90
+ $15 shipping • CA sales tax applies
Purchase Book

Acquisition
& Institutional
Inquiries

For museums, galleries, and private collectors interested in acquiring original work by Mark Strickland. All inquiries are handled with discretion. A complete artist CV, provenance documentation, and exhibition history are available upon request.

Sierra Madre, California

All inquiries receive a personal response. Pricing, dimensions, and provenance documentation provided upon request.