Robert Mars | Featured Artist

June 19, 2019

Mars' collection is a visual time capsule, evoking the vintage quality of design prevalent in the post-Depression era USA. His rich color palette and tongue-in-cheek attitude pay tribute to an idealized age of growth and hopefulness, a time before the internet and mobile technology revolutionized the concept of celebrity. Mars' early works focused on the architectural and mechanical forms of the 50s and 60s - muscle cars, motels, kitschy logos, and hulking monuments to modernism.

In 2014, Mars began incorporating elements of American Folk Art and contemporary quiltmaking into his pop art aesthetic. This innovative fusion of vintage wallpapers with quilt patterns has set Mars apart, establishing him as the pioneer of a new genre: folk-laced pop art.

Mars' latest venture into abstract compositions further showcases his artistic versatility. These works strike a delicate balance between chaos and control, employing concepts rooted in abstract expressionism. The result is a compelling dialogue between layers of color and glimpses of vintage newspaper, anchoring the work in history while pushing the boundaries of contemporary expression.

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About Robert Mars

A graduate of Parsons School of Design in New York, Mars begins the creative process by preparing his surface with multiple layers of brown paper in order to define the edges and delineate the background planes of color. He then alternates layers of paint and vintage paper ephemera, sanding away portions of the layers as he works, revealing the desired portions of under painting. From his New York studio, Mars has developed a body of work that modernizes and celebrates America's everyday objects and icons with a contemporary yet meticulously crafted approach.

Robert Mars’ artwork is exhibited worldwide including museum collections in Munich, Tokyo, Amsterdam, London, Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, Paris, Aspen, and Naples. His artwork was selected for the Absolut Vodka Blank campaign alongside DamienHirst, and his largest sized piece to date was acquired by Philip Morris/Altria for their corporate headquarters in Virginia.