Landmark (NANA Y JR), 2021 acrylic on panel 10 x 22”
Mark Mann is a surveyor of “Americanism.”
The fabled American Dream was long relabeled a myth. And yet, it continues to be pulled by two opposing forces: a myoptic nostalgia versus an angry, factual calibration of realities. In his images, Mann navigates the surrealism of the banal to peek behind the curtain of our past, and to come to terms with our present.
The artist’s new exhibition Souvenir serves as an overview of Mann’s various bodies of work over the last two decades. While they vary in media, they are all aspects of a larger, shared narrative of investigation. The earliest works are digital photo-collages, based on found Mid-Century postcards of holiday travel and resorts. These parks, motor lodges, diners and rest spots herald a bygone era when the country was inward-looking and self-satisfied. In manipulating and reorganizing the images, Mann inserts a quiet sense of discomfort, even dread. These are not happy places. We see rooms that are eerily silent, empty swimming pools, lonely figures hiding from the light, and from us.