Ground and Unground

Mark Alexander's oeuvre has consistently delved deep into the nuanced interplay of texture and metamorphosis. In the poignant Via Negativa series (2008-09), one witnesses Alexander's pioneering foray into techniques that transcend traditional boundaries, sculpting the painted surface into almost a tactile narrative. This palpable enthrallment with texture steered him towards the beguiling and arcane subject of bog bodies. Discovered in the unique geophysical tapestries of Northern Europe, these ancient silhouettes retain their ephemeral skin and organs — a testament to nature's own artistry. They emanate an otherworldly, ageless elegance, a juxtaposition of life's fleeting fragility and its enduring memory, straddling the ethereal beauty and the unsettling macabre. Throughout history, the mystique of their preservation has enraptured artists and scholars, posing riddles of mortality and time. Drawing parallels to the Iron Age bogs—where the earth's clandestine alchemy transmutes sacrificed bodies into artifacts—Alexander's canvases become a sublime continuation of his quest to breathe new life into bygone icons.

Adam and Eve II

  • Oil on Canvas
  • 80.5 x 60.5 cm
  • 2012
Oil painting of Adam and Eve as children in heavy dark colours.

Adam and Eve I (Study)

  • Oil on Canvas
  • 2012
Detail of Adam and Eve painting as children where Eve is crying because she has to leave paradise.

Narcissus

  • Oil on Canvas
  • 110.5 x 92 cm
  • 2012
Copy of Caravaggio's famous Narcissus painting re-invented in thick yellows, blacks and browns oils. Wrinkled and distorted.

Reaper

  • Oil on Canvas
  • 88.3 x 66.3 cm
  • 2012
Detail from Mark Alexander's darkly painted reinvention of The Reaper (after Millet) by Van Gogh.

Hands

  • Oil on Canvas
  • 55.6 x 40.2 cm
  • 2012
Reinvention of Albrecht Dürer's Praying Hands in thick brown and yellow oil paints.

Sower

  • Oil on Canvas
  • 81.4 x 65.2 cm
  • 2012
Reinvention of famous painting The Sower by Jean-Francois Millet. Shows by sowing in a field. This version is painted in thick dark browns and yellows.

Blind Garden Boy

  • Oil on Canvas
  • 81.2 x 65.2 cm
  • 2012
Copy of Cezanne's Blind Garden by Mark Alexander in thick oil paint with dark colours.

Beethoven

  • Oil on Canvas
  • 2012
Glum looking face painted in thick dark oil colors.