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Nice Work! #3 Mark Rogers’ “Lunar Harvest”

By Matt Stangel
March 18, 2015
Visual Art

Artist: Mark Rogers

Title: “Lunar Harvest”

Medium: Oil paint, wood panel

Gallery: Pony Club

Show: Power From Beyond, solo exhibition, March 2015

The Artist On the Work: “Lunar Harvest is a painting showing an alternate history tale in which pilgrims interact with extraterrestrials. It is an open-ended story. I think part of the fun in my art is hearing about the viewer’s interpretation of my paintings. I like all the ideas that float around in my mind when I think about Aliens from another country interacting with Aliens from another world. Lunar Harvest was inspired by a) my love of all things occult, and b) a visit to the Oregon Historical Society. The painting is part of my “Power From Beyond” exhibition which is currently on display at the Pony Club Gallery, 625 NW Everett St #105 Portland, OR, until the end of the month.”

lunarharvest

The Critic’s Experience: Snore yourself awake and it’s the mid-episode recap of a History Channel alien show. Sound bites of subordinate premises puff up into a balloon pony of conjecture; hypothetical scenarios stack as evidence for extraterrestrials who, as you’re persuaded to believe, aided in the construction of the pyramids here on Earth. The alien-built polyliths could stand in for just about any fantasy you’d like to present as emotional truth. The host’s hair stands up as if an intern follows his every move with a box fan. As if he’s permanently astounded by “science.” He speaks from a place that’s just familiar enough with the rhetoric of epistemological responsibility and historical record to defy the intent and core significance of both. He apes academic mannerisms for the sake of cosmetics and persuasion. It’s New Years Day and you snooze in and out of the program. Is extraterrestrial life real? Have aliens been to Earth? Did they collect pink crystals in puritanical robes?

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Oregon ArtsWatch Archives