Book launch and exhibition by Mark Swords.
Tesserae is a term for the individual units which together comprise a mosaic. The individual artworks in Mark Swords’ recent work could be viewed as tesserae. They amount to a diverse collection of objects and a varied approach to art making. The sum of these individual artworks form a picture of an artist whose engagement with and continuing questioning of his own working methods has led to a new and rich body of work.
The exhibition “Mosaic” was first shown at Wexford Arts Centre in April 2012 and featured Painting, Sculpture and Installation pieces. Acting as the starting point for this exhibition was the artwork “Shed”, (2010) which is a surreal representation of a garden shed and has been pieced together from old paintings and found materials. This artwork has itself functioned as a studio or production site for the artist within his own studio since Dec. 2010 and has directed and informed much of the artists practice since its “habitation”.
In 2011 Swords began working with David Smith and Atelier Design on “Mosaic”, a book made alongside the exhibition at Wexford Arts Centre. The book documents this exhibition and includes a text written by Declan Long. Also represented are a number of notable exhibitions, artworks and texts by the artist stretching back to 2006 and as such, “Mosaic” can be viewed as a catalogue of Swords’ career to date. Mosaic (both book and exhibition) was produced in connection with and funded by the AIB Art prize.
