Mark Alexander, born in Horsham, UK, earned a BFA from the Ruskin School of Art at Oxford University in 1996, despite having no formal qualifications.
There is little certainty in Alexander’s work. His images are often suspended between reverence and critique, between the sacred and the mechanical. A flag becomes a wound. A Madonna becomes dust. A sun becomes a mask. What remains is neither hope nor despair, but something slower, more exacting: a kind of looking that resists conclusion.
Bode Museum Berlin . Photo credit . Humphrey Ocean.
Love Between The Atoms: SAUVAGE, Düsseldorf, Germany
Anthony Wilkinson Gallery, London
Wrestling with Angels, exhibited with permanent collection, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin
Credo, Beethoven-Haus, Bonn, Germany
Mark Alexander Red and White Mannheim, Bode Museum, Berlin, Germany curated by Dr. Julien Schapuis.
Mannheim Paintings, Galerie Bastian, Berlin
American Bog, Broadway 1602, New York
Ground and Unground, Wilkinson Gallery, London
Red Mannheim: Special Display, St. Paul’s Cathedral, London
A Blacker Gold, Haunch of Venison, Berlin
The Bigger Victory, Haunch of Venison, London
The Abhorrence of Virtue and the Love of Vice, Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London
Ozymandias, Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London
Hotel Beethoven: Bozar Brussels
From 1770 to 2020, Hotel Beethoven provided a journey through popular culture and conceptual art. Showcasing manuscripts, instruments, and works by artists like Antoine Bourdelle, Andy Warhol, Katie Paterson, and John Baldessari, it offered a unique blend of eras and perspectives.
Guard, Android, Radical Dream…. - Projectraum, Kunstquartier Bethanien, Berlin Germany.
The exhibition showcased diverse artworks. Influenced by digital shifts, pieces reflect changing societal perceptions, predominantly through analog methods including work from Villa Wasmuth.
Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy, London
The times they are a-changin. Galerie Bastian ,Berlin
LUDWIG VAN : Le Mythe Beethoven, Philharmonie de Paris, Paris, France.
The Thea Westrich Wagner and Ethan Wagner Collection, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York and Centre Pompidou, Paris, France.
At The Still Point, Gallerie Bastian, Berlin, Germany.
The exhibition at Galerie Bastian showcased works that delved into the intersection of reality and its portrayal in painting, navigating the illusion between fact and fiction. "At the Still Point" aimed to highlight the disparity between the Latin definition of factum as "action", "anything done", "an event" or "achievement" and the contemporary understanding of the term as "that which is true". The pieces engaged in a dialogue centered around landscapes and interiors, exploring the prototype and its alteration.
Herd of Sheffield, The Children’s Hospital Charity, Sheffield, UK
Mark's Elephant was one of 58 large elephants that, together with 72 small elephants, comprised the Herd of Sheffield. His contribution was situated just inside the entrance to the Millennium Gallery. It drew inspiration from the artist Henri Matisse, who was said to have had a fondness for elephants.
One Egg a Day, Pantaleons Muehlengasse, Köln, Germany.
The exhibition "One Egg a Day“ had at its core the subject of metabolic transformation. Included work from Love Between the Atoms and Narcissus
Beethoven im Blick moderner und historischer Kunst - Kulturhaus Zanders Bergisch Gladbach, Germany
Beethoven viewed through the lens of both modern and historical art featuring Credo.
The Lost Museum - The Berlin Sculpture and Paintings Collections 70 Years After World War II Bode Museum, Berlin, Germany.
The "Lost Museum" exhibition highlighted the 1945 flak tower fires and the fate of the affected artworks. Plaster casts and photos showcased lost masterpieces from Berlin collections. The exhibit also delved into the controversial restoration of war-damaged art, a topic influenced by changing trends.
Green Flower Street, curated by Ariel Roger-Paris, Tatiana Kourochkina Galleria D’Art, Istanbul, Turkey-
Part of the Bicentennial showing Ground and Underground and Sand Madonnas.
PLAY – The Frivolous and The Serious, Collectors Room/Olbricht Foundation, Berlin
The exhibition was the outcome of a partnership between the Olbricht Foundation and two students from the Master's program 'Curating the Contemporary' at London Metropolitan University. This effort was in cooperation with the Whitechapel Gallery, London, under the guidance of Nico de Oliveira.
powerFlower, Galerie ABTART, Stuttgart, Germany
The magic of flowers in contemporary art showcasing Via Negativa.
Ars Apocalipsis – Kunst and Kollaps, curated by Malte Boecker, Kunstverein Kreis Veerhoffhaus, Gütersloh, Germany
The exhibition displayed the seldom-seen woodcut series "Apocalipsis cum figuris: The Secret Revelation of St. John" by Albrecht Dürer. This 500-year-old series, from its original 1511 edition.
Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy, London
Commencing its legacy in 1769, the Summer Exhibition has consistently curated an annual showcase of artistic endeavors spanning a wide spectrum of mediums and genres. What truly distinguishes it is its unique distinction as the globe's oldest open submission exhibition, embracing artists of all backgrounds and experiences, granting them the chance to have their work considered for display.
The Library of Babel – In and out of Place, 176 Zabludowicz Collection, London
With over 200 pieces on display, "The Library of Babel / In and Out of Place" was the most extensive showcase of works from the Zabludowicz Collection. Anna-Catharina Gebbers presented a salon-style exhibition, a format that highlighted the intentionally overwhelming assortment of contemporary art forms, spanning painting, photography, sculpture, and video.
Flowers, Death and Butterflies, Bastian Gallery, Berlin
Poetic License, Moss Gallery, New York, USA
In its 2010 spring exhibition, New York’s Moss showcased a celebration of boundary-pushing and rule-breaking. “Poetic License” highlighted designers who epitomized this spirit. Each had pioneered new forms, processes, and methodologies, venturing beyond what was previously accomplished in various media. The first showing of Shield of Achilles.
Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy, London
Since its inception in 1769, the Summer Exhibition has showcased works annually across various mediums and genres from both budding and renowned artists. It holds the distinction of being the world's oldest open submission exhibition, allowing anyone to submit their artwork for potential display.
Painting on the Move, Kunsthalle Basel, Basel, Switzerland
The exhibition's focus was on the evolving narrative of the art of painting throughout the 20th century. While frequently challenged and its conventional values as the premier art genre questioned, it was repeatedly rediscovered and reinvented.
The Galleries Show, Royal Academy, London
In collaboration with 20 of the leading London commercial art galleries, the museum offered a concise view of contemporary art in 2002, demonstrating their significant role in establishing London's position in the international contemporary art scene and in encouraging and supporting artists.
I Am a Camera - Saatchi Gallery, London.
Provocative masterpieces by iconic photographers, realist artists, and sculptors — including the likes of Tierney Gearon, Nan Goldin, Andreas Gursky, Cindy Sherman, and Andy Warhol — ignited spirited debates on the limits of aesthetic acceptability during their display.
Black (with Lucia Nogueria), Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London
Mark Alexander and the Prefiguration of the AI Age
Mark Alexander: Painting for the Future
The Weight of Time: On the Art of Mark Alexander
American Bog: Erosion, Identity, and the Fragile Image
A Renaissance Person is Something to Be
Mark Alexander in Conversation with Anke Kempkes
Lives of the Artist: An Interview with Mark Alexander, Areté Magazine, Spring/Summer 2005
Mark Alexander by Kelly Grovier
Shining in Darkness by Malcolm Bull
Reflections on the Shield of Achilles by Andrew Graham-Dixon
In the Media
Only Artists (with Humphrey Ocean RA), BBC Radio 4
Wrestling with Angels at the RA (Video)
The Art of Colour by Dr. Kelly Grovier, Thames & Hudson
A New Way of Seeing: The History of Art in 57 works, Dr. Kelly Grovier, Thames & Hudson
Art since 1989 (World of Art): Dr. Kelly Grovier, Thames & Hudson
Picturing People: The New State of the Art, Charlotte Mullins
100 works that define our age: Dr. Kelly Grovier, Thames and Hudson
Young British Art: The Saatchi Decade, Richard Cork
More Dynamite by Craig Raine
1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die: Stephen Farthing
The Lost Museum: Exhibition catalogue, Böde Museum Berlin
Collected by Thea Westreich Wagner and Ethan Wagner: Whitney Museum, New York
Credo I-V: Exhibition catalogue, Beethoven Haus, Bonn
American Bog: Exhibition catalogue, Broadway 1602, New York
The Bigger Victory: Exhibition catalogue, Haunch of Venison, London
‘Painting on the Move’: Exhibition catalogue, Kunsthalle Basel
The Sleepwalker at the Sea by Kelly Grovier
A Lens in the Palm by Kelly Grovier
The New Neurotic Realism: The Saatchi Gallery
I am a Camera: The Saatchi Gallery
mark@markalexanderart.com