Mark Bryan

"For me, painting is free and ready access to the subconscious, like dreaming while awake. Except for my political work, I don’t spend a lot of time planning my paintings. One image seems to lead to another like going down a corridor and opening doors to see what’s there. Not knowing where they will end up makes the process a compelling adventure. Although turning inward for inspiration is my first instinct and love, I can’t always stay inside my head and ignore what’s going on in the world. When the circus turns especially ugly or when a good idea appears, I feel the need and responsibility to make comment. Humor and satire have been my way to confront serious topics which are often too grim to portray directly."

1972-1974, MFA, Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles Ca.

1970-1972, BFA, Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, Ca.

Leaving Los Angeles in 1968 Bryan studied architecture at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He returned to Los Angeles in 1970 to begin study at Otis Art Institute. While completing his master's degree, Bryan shared a house and studio with Carlos Almaraz and Frank Romero. Almaraz and Romero along with Roberto De La Rocha and Gilbert Lujan founded the influential Chicano artist collective Los Four. Almaraz introduced Bryan to the Mexican Muralists’ work of the early 20th century. (Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros) This exposure reinforced his belief in the value of accessible work with social/political content. In 1974 Bryan assisted Almaraz in creating a mural backdrop for the first convention of the United Farm Workers union.

1968-1970, School of Architecture, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, Ca.

Mark Bryan (born May 24, 1950) is an American painter. Bryan's work travels in two distinct directions. Satirical works of social, political and religious comment and works which take an inward track to the imagination and subconscious. Humor and parody play a large role in many of his paintings. Style elements and influences in his work include classical painting, illustration, Romanticism, Surrealism and Pop Surrealism.

Raised in the middle class suburbs of Los Angeles County during the 1950s and 60s, Bryan was immersed in the popular culture of that time and place. Low budget Sci-Fi and horror movies, Super hero comic books, Mad Magazine, surrealist art and later the psychedelic work of Zap Comix artists such as Robert Crumb and Robert Williams were all part of the esthetic and psychological mix surrounding him. These influences combined with significant political events (which included The Red Scare, Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War) shaped and promoted an early political awareness and continues to affect the style and content of his work.