Mark Bradford
Mark Bradford
Mark Bradfordis an American artist living and working in Los Angeles...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionArtist
CountryUnited States of America
belong choose expected figured people room run society suddenly visit
I never expected to run into a room and suddenly I belonged. I figured people who live on the fringes of society, they're more free. They can choose to visit anywhere; they don't belong to anywhere. It's like being without a nation, in a way.
people
I have always been interested in people who live outside of the fabric of the norm.
felt notice people pride starting taking
There were a lot of people congratulating us on the win, and that really felt great. A lot of people are starting to take notice and are taking pride in our team.
might people room
Generally, when I tell people I'm a painter, they ask me if I have a card: 'Yes, we'd like this room in this color.' I still might get cards that say 'Mark Bradford. Painter.'
coming constantly engage people public tall ways
When you're as tall as I am, you have no public privacy. People are constantly coming up and talking to you. Constantly. You have one of two ways to go: you engage with people, or you become really bitter. I choose to engage.
depends hop insecure life piece
I'm kind of an insecure artist. I hop from piece to piece. I always think my life depends on every painting. Every painting is my first painting.
ensure happen
It's very time-consuming. We want to ensure it's done correctly. It's nothing that's going to happen overnight.
underlying
Everything I do has an underlying political question.
defensive everybody great jessica played sure
Bergh played a great defensive game, she's all over the place. Jessica makes sure everybody is in the right place.
became believe opened picked reason stand
When I was thirteen, I was in a supermarket with my mother, and for no reason at all, I picked up a science-fiction book at the checkout stand and started reading it. I couldn't believe I was doing that, actually reading a book. And, man, it opened up a whole new thing. Reading became the sparkplug of my imagination.
decide society telling work
At the end of the day, I'm an artist. I may make work and decide to do something political, but it will come out of an artist's position. It won't come out of society telling me I have to. If I do, it's because I choose, as an artist, to do it.
either trust
You either have to find a way to be really creative materially, or you better have a trust fund. And, last I checked, I didn't have a trust fund.
base narrative oftentimes paintings twist
The narrative oftentimes is that everything that comes out of the hood is 'real,' and so I thought, 'I'll base it on the absurd, the not real. I'll twist the idea of real on its head and see if I can get away with it. I'll make paintings that come not from a place but through an abstract gaze.'
dna longer several
Autopsies will take several days, and if DNA is required, it will even take longer than that.