- Source: Mark Titmarsh
Mark Titmarsh (born 1955) is a contemporary Australian painter. His work involves permutations of painting, sculpture, installation, screen media, performance and writing . In 2017, he published a book called Expanded Painting.
Work
During the early 1980s Titmarsh was a key figure in the underground Super 8 film scene . He produced a number of film projects in Super 8 , and in 1982, with Ross Gibson, Lindy Lee, Deirdre Beck and Janet Burchill, formed the Super 8 Collective, who together staged the 3rd Sydney Super 8 Film Festival at the Chauvel Cinema, Paddington, Sydney
Following the 1983 festival, The Sydney Super 8 Film Group, with Titmarsh the sole continuing member from the previous year, was formed and continued to organise and stage festivals, publish film readers and tour programs of film throughout the 1980s.
During this period Titmarsh was a prolific film artist. His work as a painter was included in Australian Perspecta 1989 and his film work was shown in Australian Perspecta 1986.
In the 1990s he co-founded the Sydney-based artist's run initiative Art Hotline exhibiting weekly one day exhibitions of ephemeral works in non-gallery everyday sites. He is the editor of an eponymously titled book documenting the 3-year life of the project.
His current practice gathered under the term ‘expanded painting’, involves deconstructing traditional conventions of painting based on canvas, brush, and stretcher and replacing them with other materials including contemporary devices and post-industrial services.
Exhibitions
Titmarsh's exhibition history comprises Australian and international exhibitions. It includes the Pompidou Centre, Paris, France and the Ionion Centre for Art and Culture, Greece. He has held exhibitions at commercial galleries including Roslyn Oxley, Sydney, Bellas Milani Gallery, Brisbane, Australia and Powell Street Gallery, Melbourne.
A monograph about his work, titled, The Thing, was written by Cameron Tonkinwise, and published by Artspace. Sydney, in 2006.
Collections
Titmarsh's works are held in museums and private and corporate collections in Australia, Europe and the United States . These include:
The National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia
The Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
The National Film and Sound Archive, Canberra, Australia
Recognition
Titmarsh was awarded the Grace Cossington Art Award in 2016 and The Lake Macquarie Regional Art Prize in 1989.
Bibliography
Cameron Tonkinwise, “A Sense of Things not Being There: Writing about Mark Titmarsh’s “The Thing” in relation to the Thinking of Martin Heidegger”, The Thing, Artist Monograph, Artspace. Sydney, 2006
Ashley Crawford, Directory of Australian Art, Craftsman House, Fishermans Bend, 2006, ISBN 0975196537
Andrew Frost, “Intelligent Dolphins: From Metaphysical TV to Remix Culture”, SynCity Catalgoue, dLux Media Arts, Sydney, 2006
Barrett Hodsdon, Straight Roads and Crossed Lines, The Quest for Film Culture in Australia, Bernt Porridge, Perth, 2001
Adrian Martin, “Film and Video of the 1980s” in What is Appropriation? Rex Butler (ed.), IMA, Brisbane, 1996, ISBN 1875792120
Allan McCulloch, The Encyclopedia of Australian Art, 1994
Max Germaine, "Mark Titmarsh", Dictionary of Australian Galleries and Artists, Volume 2, 1991
Michael Hutak, "Yes and No - An Interview with Mark Titmarsh", Tension, October 1989
Adrian Martin, “Indefinite Objects” in Albert Moran and Tom O’Regan (eds.), The Australian Screen, Penguin, Sydney, 1989
Edward Colless, “Virtually There: Super 8”, Australian Perspecta 1985 Catalogue, Art Gallery of NSW, October 1985
References
External links
Mark Titmarsh – Gallery 9
Mark Titmarsh – Artspace: Wet Paint
Mark Titmarsh – Artspace: Performance
Mark Titmarsh – Scanlines