| ARTIST BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: | Mark Farand is a Calgary-based artist known for his whimsical portrayals of small-town Alberta. He studied illustration and design at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, Ohio, from 1984-85, and graduated from ACAD in Calgary with a Diploma in Visual Communications and Design in 1988.
He worked as a graphic designer and commercial illustrator, but left this field in 1990 to focus on fine art. He is known for his vibrant use of colour, his perceptive treatment of light, and particularly for his swooping, curving perspectives. His tongue-in-cheek renditions of rural scenes and small-town buildings bring the past back to life. Producing oils, watercolours and giclée prints, Farand twists and contorts familiar architectural forms. Grain elevators and gas station pumps bend towards one another or seem to embrace. He depicts small-town diners with neon signs, wooden barns and friendly hotels, lonely gas stations and farmyards that typify Alberta architecture, the prairie landscape, and old-time rural life. Alluding to the nature of the subject matter, hidden cobwebs are sometimes spun into each painting. A number appearing after Farand’s signature indicates the number of cobwebs to look for.
Mark’s paintings are held in numerous personal and corporate collections, which include Value Drug Mart Associates Ltd, Merrill Lynch, Matrix Real Estate Ltd, Renaissance Energy, Pinnacle Oil and Gas, Pan Canadian Petroleum and Impact Construction Services, amongst others. His work has been shown in solo and group shows in galleries across Canada and the US, including at the Calgary Stampede Western Art Show. He is represented at the Kimoto Gallery, Vancouver; Picture This! Framing and Gallery, Sherwood Park; and the Strathcona Community Centre, Calgary.
|