Mark McConnell Sweeney
April 27, 1965 — June 5, 2017
Denver, Colorado — New York City

Artist Statement

Chaos, Mayhem, Tranquility, Upheaval, Resolution

In painting, we attempt to depict tension.
It’s like composing a symphony, only with color, image, space, and light.
Take away, add on. Take away, add on.
Picasso once said that a painting is the sum of its destructions.
The act of painting is like nature, unpredictable, and combined with human influences.
Out of the chaos comes an image with all its tensions and resolution—that can become nature itself.
If it is successful, the work will speak for itself, and all the inconsistencies, abstractions, and contradictions, somehow come together to create a kind of order.

-Mark Sweeney, May 2010

EDUCATION

Art Institute of Chicago
University of Vermont

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2012
Hayaka Arti, Istanbul, Turkey

2011
Ghost Shadows, Elga Wimmer Gallery, Chelsea, New York, USA
Geisterschatten, Dada Post, Berlin, Germany

2010
Puffin Room, New York, USA

2008
Ear Up Gallery, New York, USA

2007
Pacafista, New York, USA

2005
John Benton, New York, USA
UTOPIA, Glass Bead Collective, Brooklyn, New York, USA
The Snake Show, New York, USA

2004
The Snake Show, New York, USA

2002
Istanbul International Art Fair, Istanbul, Turkey
Shin Choi, New York, USA

2002–2006
Annual Behind the Green Door, New York, USA
Curator: Bob Musial

2001
Take Heart, New York, USA

2000
Bodrum Castle, Bodrum, Turkey
Asmalı Mescit Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey

1999
Eran Gallery, Heraklion, Crete, Greece
Rythmos, Agios Nikolaos, Crete, Greece
Albert Stuart Gallery, Los Angeles, California, USA

1998
Eran Gallery, Heraklion, Crete, Greece

1993
Fred’s of London, London, England

1990
Kramer Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, USA

1989
Painting Chicago, SAIC Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, USA (Group Exhibition)

PUBLISHED WORK

Frequencies, Aloud, online magazine
Henry Holt
Springer Verlag

SELECTED COLLECTIONS

Chicago, Illinois, USA
London, UK
New York, USA
Los Angeles, California, USA
Heraklion, Greece
Stockholm, Sweden
Berlin, Germany
Istanbul, Turkey
Bodrum Museum, Bodrum, Turkey