Overview

Mark Gleason was born in 1962 in Greenwich, CT, and has been creating visual art since childhood. In 1984 he moved to New York to obtain a bachelor of fine arts degree in studio arts from Syracuse University. Gleason later moved back to Connecticut where he received a master of science in art education from the University of Bridgeport. Gleason enjoys the private act of painting, as well as the public process of being an educator.

Gleason’s psychically charged mythical realism focuses on figures and liminal spaces in our increasingly fragile environment. His animals and individuals explore connections and emphasize emotional meaning through pose, composition, and lighting. Elements of fire, water, earth, and sky feature prominently in his work, and he also relates these to his color palette.

Drawing on approaches and references from literature, music, philosophy, ecology, and the figurative old masters, Gleason’s oil paintings are at once visceral, austere, mischievous, and absurd.

 

I paint from my inside outward, and the painting surface is corporeal. Though I work quite deliberately, consciously employing both traditional and innovative techniques, my unconscious associations direct my images, narratives, and themes. Somewhere between inception and completion I ask the painting to convey a narrative and to astonish, disturb, seduce and convince.”

Works
Gallery Exhibitions
CV

EDUCATION

1989  Master of Science in Art Education, University of Bridgeport 

1984  Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Arts, Syracuse University 

 

EXHIBITIONS

2023

 La Luz de Jesus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Nine Horses, solo exhibition

 Arcadia Contemporary, New York, NY

 LA Art Show, group exhibition

2022

 Arcadia Contemporary, New York, NY, A Madness Most Discreet, solo spotlight exhibition

 Arcadia Contemporary, New York, NY, The Frame Remains the Same, group exhibition

 Two Art Gallery, Murcia, Spain, Héroes y Villanos, group exhibition

2021

 Two Art Gallery, Murcia, Spain, Gore, group exhibition

 Two Art Gallery, Murcia, Spain, Animal Farm, group exhibition

 La Luz de Jesus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Clearing, group exhibition

 Arcadia Contemporary, New York, Ny, Five and Under, group exhibition

 Arcadia Contemporary, New York, NY, The Male of the Species, group exhibition

 Higher Art Gallery, Traverse City, MI, Carry the Fire, solo exhibition

 La Luz de Jesus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Onward 2.0-Portraiture & Figuration Biennial

 Pence Gallery, Davis CA, New Year, New Directions, group exhibition

2020

Higher Art Gallery, Traverse City, MI, Citizens Coping, juried exhibition

 Gallery 30 South, Pasadena, CA, The Coaster Show, juried exhibition

 La Luz de Jesus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Wilderness, solo exhibition

 Pence Gallery, Davis CA, Rare Birds, juried exhibition

 La Luz de Jesus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Everything But the Kitschen Sync, juried exhibition

2019

Lore Degenstein Gallery, Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, PA, Eleventh Annual Figurative Drawing Competition and Exhibition, juried exhibition

 Dacia Gallery, New York, NY, Nine-Year Anniversary Exhibition, juried exhibition

 Blackboard Gallery, Camarillo, CA, The Illusionists, juried exhibition to accompany The Representational Art Conference 2019

 La Luz de Jesus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Laluzapalooza, juried exhibition

2018

 La Luz de Jesus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, 32nd Anniversary Drawing Show, juried exhibition

 Studio Gallery SF, San Francisco, CA, The Tiny Show, group exhibition

 Storpunkt, Munich Germany, Half a Pound of Art, group exhibition

 La Luz de Jesus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Sleepless, solo exhibition

 La Luz de Jesus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Laluzapalooza, juried exhibition

 Pence Gallery, Davis, CA, Corporeal, solo exhibition

2017

 La Luz de Jesus, Los Angeles, CA, 31st Anniversary Drawing Show, juried exhibition

 Pence Gallery, Davis, CA, The Tiny Show, group exhibition

 La Luz de Jesus,Los Angeles, CA, Laluzapalooza, juried exhibition

 Storpunkt, Munich Germany, Half a Pound of Art, group exhibition

2016

 Stephen Romano Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, Destinisia, group exhibition

 La Luz de Jesus, Los Angeles, CA, Laluzapalooza, juried exhibition

 Copro Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, BeinArt Surreal Show, group exhibition

 La Luz de Jesus, Los Angeles, CA, Blood and Fire, solo exhibition

2015

 Queen Mary Luxury Liner, Long Beach, CA, Ink N Iron Art Gathering, curated exhibition

 La Luz de Jesus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Laluzapalooza, juried exhibition

2014

 Kwan Fong Gallery, California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, CA, Running With Scissors, group exhibition

 The Harwood Museum of Art of the University of New Mexico, Taos, NM, Lowbrow Insurgence: The Rise of Post-Pop Art, group exhibition

 Begovich Gallery, Cal State University, Fullerton, CA,  Hearsay, group exhibition

2013

 La Luz de Jesus, Los Angeles, CA, Darklands, solo exhibition

 La Luz de Jesus, Los Angeles, CA, Laluzapalooza, juried exhibition

2012

 Copro Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, Anomalies, group exhibition

 Grand Theatre Center for the Arts, Tracy, CA, Beauty...it’s not pretty, group exhibition

2011

 La Luz de Jesus, Los Angeles, CA

 La Luz de Jesus 25, group exhibition

 Los Angeles Municipal Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Beyond Eden, group exhibition

 Mondo Bizzarro Gallery, Rome, Italy, The New Lost Generation, group exhibition

 La Luz de Jesus, Los Angeles, CA, Mannerism, two-person exhibition

 La Luz de Jesus, Los Angeles, CA, Everything But The Kitschen Sync, juried exhibition

2010

 La Luz de Jesus, Los Angeles, CA, Everything But The Kitschen Sync, juried exhibition

2009

 Cella Gallery, North Hollywood, CA, Persona, solo exhibition

 La Luz de Jesus, Los Angeles, CA,  Everything But The Kitschen Sync, juried exhibition

2008

Los Angeles Municipal Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, East Of Eden, group exhibition supported by The Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art.

 La Luz de Jesus, Los Angeles, CA, Mark Gleason & Caia Koopman, two-person exhibition

 La Luz de Jesus, Los Angeles, CA, Everything But The Kitschen Sync, juried exhibition

 Roq La Rue, Seattle, WA,  A Cabinet of Natural Curiosities, group exhibition

 Rake Art Gallery, Portland, OR,  Rake Art Invitational, group exhibition.

2007

 Gallery Eleven, Fairfield CT, Glimpse, group exhibition.

 La Luz de Jesus, Los Angeles, CA, Everything But The Kitschen Sync, juried exhibition

 Grey McGear Modern, Santa Monica, CA

2006

Gallery LeLe, Tokyo, Japan,  I See Blythe, group exhibition

La Luz de Jesus, Los Angeles, CA,  August Show, group exhibition

City Art, San Francisco, CA,  Group exhibition

La Luz de Jesus, Los Angeles, CA

Everything But The Kitschen Sync, juried exhibition, Grey McGear Modern, Santa Monica, CA

2005

City Art, San Francisco, CA, Group exhibition

La Luz de Jesus, Los Angeles, CA, Everything But The Kitschen Sync, juried exhibition

City Art, San Francisco, CA, Group exhibition

2004

 Gallery Eleven, Fairfield, CT, Flora and Fauna, group exhibition.

 Gallery Eleven, Fairfield. CT, Mark Gleason, solo exhibition.

2003

 Gallery Eleven, Fairfield, CT, Horses, group exhibition.

 Gallery Eleven, Fairfield, CT, Recent Work, solo exhibition.

 Wilton Library, Wilton, CT, 4 Winners, group exhibition.

2002

Zellner Gallery, Wilton, CT, Perception and Reality, juried exhibition. Winner: Best in Show

Weston Public Library, Weston, MA, Figuration, solo exhibition.

Westport Arts Center, Westport, CT, Inaugural Members Exhibition

 Zellner Gallery, Wilton, CT,  Color and Curves, member exhibition., Winner: Third Place

2001

Wilton Library, Wilton, CT,  Sky, two-person exhibit.

 John Slade Ely House, New Haven, CT, New Haven Paint and Clay Members Exhibition.

 Ridgefield Guild of Artists, Ridgefield, CT,  Meet The Artists series, two-person exhibit.

 Silvermine Guild Arts Center, New Canaan, CT, New Members Exhibition.

2000

The Betty Barker Gallery at the Carriage Barn Arts Center, New Canaan, CT, Spectrum 2000, juried exhibition.

John Slade Ely House, New Haven, CT, New Haven Paint and Clay, juried exhibition.

1999

The Cannondale Gallery, Wilton, CT, Closing House, group exhibiton.

Max’s, Westport, CT, Solo display.

The Betty Barker Gallery at the Carriage Barn Arts Center, New Canaan, CT,  Group exhibition.

The Betty Barker Gallery at the Carriage Barn Arts Center, New Canaan, CT,  Spectrum 1999, juried exhibition.

1998

The Cannondale Gallery, Wilton, CT, Works In Oil, three-person exhibit.

Wilton Library, Wilton, CT, Solo exhibition.

 The Betty Barker Gallery at the Carriage Barn Arts Center, New Canaan, CT, Spectrum 1998, juried exhibiton.

Wilton Library, Wilton, CT, Cannondale Gallery at the Wilton Library, group exhibition.

1997

The Cannondale Gallery, Wilton, CT, Meteorology, group exhibiton.

 The Betty Barker Gallery at the Carriage Barn Arts Center, New Canaan, CT, Spectrum 1997, juried exhibition.

Cat Black Gallery, Westport, CT, Valentine Show, group exhibition.

1995

John Slade Ely House, New Haven, CT,  Figuratively Speaking, group exhibition.

Silvermine Guild Arts Center, New Canaan, CT, Art of the Northeast USA, juried exhibiton,

Borders Bookstore, Stamford, CT, solo exhibition.

Press