MARCUS HODGE
Marcus Hodge is a British contemporary artist whose work is known for its vitality and sculptural use of paint. He seeks to evoke an instinctive response in the viewer by using minimal language. Central to his work is the juxtaposition of energy and stillness, where visceral layers of paint interact to reveal a glimpse of what lies beneath. With a restrained economy of means, the paintings are less about finish as about the process - a process of not knowing, one that may reveal something you weren't looking for. The picture finds itself in the mysterious and compelling process of being painted.
Born in Sussex in 1966, Hodge earned a degree in Economics from Queen Mary's University of London in 1989. He then worked his passage around the Mediterranean on Prince Furstenberg of Germany's boat. Afterward, he moved to Kentucky, USA, to work on a horse farm. Marcus decided to study art full time in 1989 and began a rigorous five-year training as an oil painter. He studied under the Spanish National Treasure, Joaquim Torrents Llado, one of Spain's most prominent portrait painters, at Esquela Libre del Mediterraneo in Palma, Mallorca. The school took the traditional approach to teaching oil painting: "a al prima", which includes proportion, light and dark, still life. and portraiture. In 1993, Marcus became the the third person to be invited to remain as a teacher since its foundation in 1968. However, following the death of his tutor, Hodge left the school in 1994 to develop his work freely.
Hodge has a prolific career of exhibits and honors. Highlights include Austin Galleries, Austin, in 1992, the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, London, in 1997, and Mark Murray Gallery, New York, in 2014.
In addition to Hodge's prestigious and prolific work with figurative subjects, he pushes the limits of his medium to develop a detective sensibility for abstract painting.
To learn more about Marcus Hodge visit www.marcushodge.com
