Mark Wilson

Code Matrix

[DAM] Cologne is pleased to present the first solo exhibition of Mark Wilson giving an overview of the last thirty years of his artistic practice. From his early coloured plotter drawings in the 80's to his current large format c-prints his development can be perceived through a growing complexity in his works. However, he remained true to his style based on delicate geometric elements that are assembled to hard-edged coloured structures using a strong technological imagery.

After his fine art studies, Wilson turned to an abstract geometrical painting style in the 70's creating under the influcence of pop art large format paintings in bright colours that remind of technical drawings or circuits. With the emergence of PCs he learned programming and works eversince exclusively with algorithms and custom software. While his works up to the turn of the millenium had a strong emphasize on spatiality, outlines and their fracturing, he focused more on the elaboration of complex overlapping layerings in the last 10 years. The depth of these works draws the viewer into an exploration of the delicate structures and systems.

'The vibrantly coloured circles, squares and converging or diverging lines create surprisingly subtle effects, the product of a lifetime’s experience of using technology to create instantly recognizable art that remains distinctly of its time.'
Douglas Dodds, Senior Curator, Victoria & Albert Museum, London (Quotation from the exhibition catalogue)

Born in Oregon in 1943, Mark Wilson attended Pomona College and the Yale School of Art, where he studied painting with Jack Tworkov and Al Held. He lives in West Cornwall, Connecticut.
His work in the nineteen seventies was involved with geometric and technological imagery. In 1980, Wilson purchased a computer and learned programming.  His computer generated works have been widely exhibited.  He participated in many important  exhibitions of computer art; seven SIGGRAPH art shows, "Computers and Art" at the IBM Gallery in New York, "ArtWare" at the Hannover CeBit,  The Victoria and Albert Museum included his work in the 2010 exhibition 'Digital Pioneers'.
In 1982 Wilson received an Artists’ Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.  Ars Electronica awarded Wilson the Distinction in Computer Graphics in 1992. Wilson's works are in numerous public, corporate, and private collections: including the IBM Corporation, Apple Computer, UniSys Corporation, United Technologies, Mobil Oil, Prudential Insurance, Block Museum, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Victoria and Albert Museum, Museu de Arte Contemporanea, Sao Paulo, Philip Johnson, and Ivan Karp.