Artist #3: Marc Swanson
Untitled (Boxer Box), 2010, Wood, chain, digital C-print,
paint, polyurethane, 24 X 36 X 8 inches
Marc Swanson is an American artist,
born in 1969 and raised in small-town New England by his father, who was an
avid hunter and an ex-marine. In the early ‘90’s, he moved to San Francisco and
became deeply involved in the gay counterculture scene there. At this time, he
began making his most well known works—his crystal-covered bucks. These works
explore the duality of his masculine identities and expresses the tear between
his childhood influences and his adult life. When he moved to San Francisco he
didn’t feel quite at home, and didn’t feel at home with his father either. His
work is deeply tied to his own history.
Swanson makes art from a wide array
of media, including sculpture, drawing, collage,
photography, video, and installation. In his sculptures alone, the materials
used are diverse and reflective of the duality the works express. He often
incorporates both “high” and “low” materials into his sculptures, such as
crystals and gold and silver chains mixed in with cheap lumber and t-shirts and
found antlers.
The first time I saw
one of Swanson’s sculptures was two years ago t the Walker’s “Spectacular
Vernacular” show. The piece was his Looking
Back Buck, and its elegance was so striking I had to go back and look at it
multiple times. Learning about his work and history now makes it even more
beautiful to me.
Killing Moon III, 2005, Mixed media
Untitled (Looking Back Buck), 2004, Crystals,
polyurethane foam, adhesive, 38 x 18 x 18 inches
Black Fighting Bucks, Crystals,
polyurethane foam, adhesive, 2009
Killing Moon II, 2005, Mixed
Media
Sites used: http://marcswansonstudio.com
http://www.ric
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