Mark Bletcher
Mark Bletcher (b.1995, UK) lives and works in Newcastle Upon Tyne. He received his BA in Fine art from Newcastle University (2019). Bletcher was a recipient of the Gwen May award from Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (2020), shortlisted for the Woon Art Prize (2019) and the Young Contemporary Artist Award (2020). He is a recipient of the Elizabeth Greenshields Award (2023-4) and a recipient of the Cathrine Cookson Foundation print bursary (2023) He has exhibited with OHSH Projects (2023) Northen Print (2023), Newcastle Contemporary (2022) and Gallager and Turner (2022).
Bletcher is a co-founder of MinutesOn, a project that builds community through conversations with artists. Mark Bletcher’s recent work is an exploration of the role of myth in shaping our identity. He often uses the visual language of modern magical realism to explore ideas around subjectivity, narrative, and perception.
There was once a narrative in his work, but it is obscured, and all that remains is a fragment of the story. Inspired by a contemporary engagement with historical fragmented texts, including popular examples like the Iliad, the artist invites us to wonder what might be lost or transformed by our limited understating of the past and how these stories can be retold through a modern perspective. The work is informed by research of modern literature as well as queer and social history. Handle: Instagram - markbletcher