Mark Fuller's exhibition of his work at Chatham’s Nucleus Art Centre Gallery, the show was on until the 22nd December 2011. However, to call it an exhibition is an understatement, in the traditional sense of the word. It was more than an exhibition although still that, it was an experience, a chance to step into a world of make believe, to leave behind the mundane and be filled with and moved by sheer joy and fantasy.
The exhibition called “Icons”, had the initial appearance of the work of Andy Warhol and his Icons. Mark Fuller’s ‘Icons’ are slick, compelling, up to date and of this generation. I would be so bold as to say that it is even better than Warhol as the experimental stuff that arguably rendered meaning superfluous in Warhol, such as the famous Campbell’s soup for example has not been included or anything like that, and so Mark Fullers Icons are refined, they take you away from reality for a while, you can escape into the lives of people who look good, and have a purpose, or maybe not so much a purpose, but they are resolute, purposeful and driven people, how wonderful it is to escape and feel what it is to be them for a while, feel what they mean to you, and remember too what they have meant to you in the past .
Mark is a full time civil servant by trade, he has one grown up daughter who studied art at college and his partner is expecting a baby in March. His spectacular work (all from this year) is done from a makeshift studio in his home. He is from and currently lives in Medway.
This evocative exhibition begins with icons of fast cars like Ferraris, and porches, there are also camper vans; how good it must feel to drive a fast car and escape life in a camper van …
Then you come to the most powerful iconic image of our generation, that of Vincent and Jules from the film Pulp Fiction, they each carry a piece, they are uncompromising in their stance and the impression is that no-one messes with them. It s so evocative; isn’t that how we would all like to be in real life? To escape from who we are, with our inadequacies and idiosyncrasies, its so good to imagine ourselves to be just like them for a while, even for a split second!
It really is a thrilling image; it sets the tone for what is to come, Michael Caine, James Bond and others that really “kick ass”. The exhibition tells half the story, it’s told in a masterfully slick way; the icons are all black and white, bold and sharp. Bright colours are added to background and/or to props, they set and frame the icons. We then are the subject of the other half of the story, how the icons affect us and allow us to escape, we are moved and can shake up the world, just as they (the icons) do and have done. I guess for me one of the highlights was Jimi Hendrix, he is so cool and seeing him revered and encapsulated as an Icon is a glorious experience!
Of course, all the fast cars, guns and ammo really mean nothing without a woman or a girl around, and there you see them, great iconic feminine beauties; Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe. Classy and gorgeous, their presence rounds off the exhibition and makes it complete. Complete in the excitement of a man’s world, exciting and now gentle too.
Well done to Mark Fuller on an exemplary exhibition, I wish him all the best and hope that he will go far.
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