Mark Mathews grew up with his mother in the Melbourne suburbs after his father left home. He was probably of Yorta Yorta background but this could never be verified. Lin Onus saw his drawings in 1994 and suggested an exhibition with Peter Harrison of Kimberley Fine Art. It was a sellout.
Press release for Mark Mathews debut solo exhibition at Kimberley Fine Art, Melbourne, 1994. This exhibition was opened by the late Lin Onus.
Every now and then something comes along for which we don’t have a word ready. The art of Mark Mathews is like that.
There will be some people who will look at the pure colours and simple outlines of people and scenery and call his work naïf. But Mark has never had the background in art that most naïve artists experience in the lead up to embracing the style. In fact, Mark has had very little formal schooling and no art training at all. His work has no contrivance about it whatsoever.
His art came at the end of a long line of tough times. Most of the early part of his life was spent in various homes – institutional and foster. About three years ago he went home with a friend whose father said he could stay. The father was Neil McLeod, photographer, artist and sculptor. At the time, Mark was into marijuana and drink. Neil always had heaps of paper and various drawing materials around. One afternoon, he encouraged Mark to have a go with pastels.
For Mark, the result was a turning point. The subject was only a footy match – Essendon v. Hawthorn – but he found the experience so satisfying that he did a few more. The images were drawn from his own story. They included playgrounds, fights and city life. But he did not try to draw these things ‘realistically’. Instead, the images are free to follow the same lack of restriction with which most children approach a page. People hang from the side of the page. Animals are drawn bigger because they are important. Houses, cafes and trucks are drawn without normal regard to perspective because they are more satisfying to draw that way. The strange thing is that, when the rules are broken, the drawing says something else about the subject. You need to see the work to understand what that is.
Press releases are meant to explain their subjects a little, to give enough insight to the readers so that they will be motivated to go and see for themselves. With Mark Mathews art, it is difficult to explain. Even he, simply says that he does it because he enjoys it. The ideas come from everyday observations – the fabric of living in a tough upbringing.
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