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Elijah Wheat Showroom is joyful to present the objects d’art of Mark Sengbusch at Intersect Art and Design Fair in Palm Springs this February. An array of skillfully stained and assembled birch plywood sculptures will command the space and dip one into a world where sci-fi begins with a brutalist sensibility and a Japanese woodworking charm.
Formally, Sengbusch’s sculptures, relief paintings and wall tiles are a subversion of Brutalist Architecture. The Brutalist sand-beaten buildings of the deserts in the Middle East are like playthings of giants for Sengbusch. The love of Science Fiction, city life, video games, early anime and international travel all mash together in these objects. Japanese woodworking, specifically in temples and shrines, have also been an impactful inspiration. The standalone sculptures fit together with no glue or hardware. With a mantra of “No Fuss”, the artist keeps the design simple.
The “Daisy Chain” is an airy sculpture consisting of just two shapes: the flowers and the connecting chain links. Flattened, the tessellation emerges, referencing graphic design, pattern and decoration. “This work attempts a fusion between architecture and painting,” Sengbusch adds. While the jubilant and thoughtful colors of the works evoke the 70’s & 80’s, where simple analogue children’s toys influenced his upbringing as well as the decades’ fashion and amusements. The titles of the works reflect this.
“Raindrop 43” is a character in Isaac Asimov's book Prelude to Foundation. She resides in “The Empire” that consists of 25 million worlds. She offers another, from another planet, a taste of rare unsweetened raw dainties, which is a light candy. No two dainties taste alike. Raindrop 43 says "It's a good thing. It teaches you the evanescence of things of the world.” The sophisticated and unique color combinations all nod to a painter exploring space as he references his treasured hobbies in shapes that are alike, yet with differing hues.
Displayed on hand-crafted shelving and plinths in an installation Sengbusch’s work intends to bring aesthetic pleasure promoting a reminiscent, yet retro modernism.
Mark Sengbusch received his MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2008 and his BFA from College for Creative Studies in 2002 after a year at Central St. Martin’s School of Art in London in 2001. He has participated in residencies at Vermont Studio Center and has been awarded the Milton and Sally Avery Foundation Fellowship to attend Byrdcliffe Arts Colony Residency in 2019 & 2021. His works have been exhibited at the NY Armory Show twice with Detroit’s David Klein Gallery. He has also shown with Bushwick’s Transmitter gallery, Best Western Gallery in Brooklyn, and with Hilde in Los Angeles. This is the first presentation with Elijah Wheat Showroom at Intersect’s Palm Springs Art Fair. Sengbusch lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.
Elijah Wheat Showroom is joyful to present the objects d’art of Mark Sengbusch at Intersect Art and Design Fair in Palm Springs this February. An array of skillfully stained and assembled birch plywood sculptures will command the space and dip one into a world where sci-fi begins with a brutalist sensibility and a Japanese woodworking charm.
Formally, Sengbusch’s sculptures, relief paintings and wall tiles are a subversion of Brutalist Architecture. The Brutalist sand-beaten buildings of the deserts in the Middle East are like playthings of giants for Sengbusch. The love of Science Fiction, city life, video games, early anime and international travel all mash together in these objects. Japanese woodworking, specifically in temples and shrines, have also been an impactful inspiration. The standalone sculptures fit together with no glue or hardware. With a mantra of “No Fuss”, the artist keeps the design simple.
The “Daisy Chain” is an airy sculpture consisting of just two shapes: the flowers and the connecting chain links. Flattened, the tessellation emerges, referencing graphic design, pattern and decoration. “This work attempts a fusion between architecture and painting,” Sengbusch adds. While the jubilant and thoughtful colors of the works evoke the 70’s & 80’s, where simple analogue children’s toys influenced his upbringing as well as the decades’ fashion and amusements. The titles of the works reflect this.
“Raindrop 43” is a character in Isaac Asimov's book Prelude to Foundation. She resides in “The Empire” that consists of 25 million worlds. She offers another, from another planet, a taste of rare unsweetened raw dainties, which is a light candy. No two dainties taste alike. Raindrop 43 says "It's a good thing. It teaches you the evanescence of things of the world.” The sophisticated and unique color combinations all nod to a painter exploring space as he references his treasured hobbies in shapes that are alike, yet with differing hues.
Displayed on hand-crafted shelving and plinths in an installation Sengbusch’s work intends to bring aesthetic pleasure promoting a reminiscent, yet retro modernism.
Mark Sengbusch received his MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2008 and his BFA from College for Creative Studies in 2002 after a year at Central St. Martin’s School of Art in London in 2001. He has participated in residencies at Vermont Studio Center and has been awarded the Milton and Sally Avery Foundation Fellowship to attend Byrdcliffe Arts Colony Residency in 2019 & 2021. His works have been exhibited at the NY Armory Show twice with Detroit’s David Klein Gallery. He has also shown with Bushwick’s Transmitter gallery, Best Western Gallery in Brooklyn, and with Hilde in Los Angeles. This is the first presentation with Elijah Wheat Showroom at Intersect’s Palm Springs Art Fair. Sengbusch lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.