Mark Larson Blog






 

Mark Larson - oil painter and printmaker

Marc Chagall once said, "Great art picks up where nature ends."  For Mark Larson,  a former nature painter and Portland, Oregon native who now lives and works in Tacoma, WA, this statement could not be more apt.  Inspired by his travels to Europe beginning in 1999 with his wife Andree, an art historian, Mark underwent a personal and artistic renaissance of his own, literally overnight.  Mark's paintings now encompass natural and figurative symbolism, natural and urban landscapes and dreamscapes, and a new series of paintings that explore the convergence of memory, time, and place.

Described as a "surreal genius" by The Columbian newspaper, Mark has evolved into one of America's leading contemporary symbolist painters, having shown his work nationally and internationally in solo and group gallery shows and exhibitions such as the Florence Biennale in Florence, Italy, the JayKay Gallery International Landscape & Dreamscape exhibition in Carouge, Switzerland, and the Art Essential Contemporary Art Exhibition in Calgary, Canada, where he won multiple best of show awards.   His paintings are widely collected on several continents and are in numerous private and public collections such as Princess Cruise Lines, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, and many others.  Mark's paintings have recently been included in a book titled Best of America - Oil Painting, volume II, by Kennedy Publishing.