MARK BOOTH GOD IS REPRESENTED BY THE SEA
HAIR ISTHMUS, 2011
Acrylic, ink, acrylic gouache, pencil on paper.
12” X 16”
LIKE THE FORMATION OF STARS, 2011
Acrylic, ink, acrylic gouache, pencil on paper. 2011
18” X 24”
ASTERISK SUBSTITUTION, 2011
Acrylic, ink, acrylic gouache, pencil on paper. 2011
22.25” X 30”
RAINISH GREYLESSNESS, 2011
Acrylic, ink, acrylic gouache, pencil on paper. 2011
12” X 16”
GOD IS REPRESENTED BY THE SEA, 2011
Audio
SEA URCHIN (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis), 2011
Adhesive vinyl. Dimensions variable.
NARWHAL (Monodon monoceros), 2011
Adhesive vinyl. Dimensions variable.
Mark Booth’s extensive practice, incorporated by sound, writing, painting, video, and installation, speaks to many. In fact much of his work employs literal fragments of speech, urging viewers to listen whether the work be spoken or written.
The works presented here for Adds Donna, are no exception. Booth’s vivid verbal imagery materializes through an assortment of hand-cut wall texts interjected by a cacophony of recorded voice. The scrawling vinyl wall texts, though immersive in themselves, demand more than mere reading. Due to their interaction with the gallery’s architecture, walking, bending, turning, and craning become as much a part of the read as the words themselves.
Beyond exposing the plurality of language, Booth offers breaks and pauses clearing entrances to join. A generous play of sound and word represent this challenging circle of conversations. Every entry point becomes a story as elements overlap to create an experience of language that is at once physical and abstract.
Mark Booth is a Chicago-based interdisciplinary artist and writer. He received a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Recent exhibitions and projects include Nothing to do with wizards, O'Connor Gallery, Domincan University, River Forest, IL., pierecednightstarvoice at Schalter Gallery, Berlin, Germany, The Stinging Tentacles Of Anxiety That Constrict The Heart Are Healed By The Light Of An Inner Sun, Gahlberg Gallery, College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, IL., Spanish Still Life (or a large list of merged animals), Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL., Endless (Perverted by Language/Delay 1968), UBS 12x12, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, IL., and a collaborative performance work Quiet (A disruptive fog (or a hogshead full of vapor called memory) in Chicago, Illinois. He has performed and exhibited in the United States, Scandinavia, and Europe. Booth is an assistant professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in creative writing and sound.
