Interview

Jun 7

Marc Mannheimer

In the Spring of 1964, Marc finished his freshman year of college, and read a small ad in the Sunday New York Times calling for artists to work for the Parks Department of New York City. He, and his best friend and fellow artist, Richard Dimmler, subsequently became a co-designers of the Parks Department’s Art events for two years, working directly with Thomas P.F. Hoving and Mark Di Suvero. They created numerous, artistic events in Central Park, culminating in a 100-foot-long mural created by anyone who ventured into the park, next to the MET Museum. The event was co-sponsored by the MET Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Crafts.

At the final reception the director of the museum of Contemporary Crafts, Paul Smith, asked him if he was interested in being Art Director of the Museum! Marc accepted and was their art director from 1964-1965, while in college full-time. This position led him subsequently to work as art director of Circus Magazine, assistant art director of Germaine Monteil Cosmetiques, and lots of free-lance design.

In Grad School at NYU, Marc majored in sculpture. Marc had the honor and joy of being the studio assistant to Alan D’Arcangelo in 1967-1968. From 1969-1973, he worked off and on as studio assistant for Tom Wesselmann. He had gallery representation in New York City at The Alain Bilhaud Gallery from 1972-1980, when the gallery closed. In 1973, he moved to Illinois. Marc was represented there by the Deson-Zaks Gallery in Chicago. He was also represented by the James Yu Gallery in New York. While in Illinois, his work was shown extensively in Chicago and included in an invitational show at The Renaissance Society. In 1976, Marc moved to the Boston area. In 1977, he illustrated and co-wrote, with Jeffrey Ehrlich, a book called The Carpenter’s Manifesto which was published. In 1978, Marc was awarded a Massachusetts Artist Foundation Fellowship in Painting. His work was shown in “Art of The State” at the Rose Art Museum and Williams College Art Museum. In 1979, he was awarded an Artist in Residence Fellowship from the Massachusetts Artist Foundation. He was resident Artist in the Hennessey Elementary School in Lawrence, Mass. He was also a Massachusetts Artist Foundation Finalist in Book Arts in 1987 and drawing in 1988. From 1980 to 88, Marc was an invited member of the Boston Experimental Etching Studio.

In 1979, he began a 21-year career at Bradford College, in Bradford, Ma. He was named a Danforth Associate of the Danforth Foundation from 1979-84. From 1982-1986, Marc was represented by The Stux Gallery in Boston and the Andover Gallery in Andover, Mass. In 1985, he was a participant in a National Endowment for Humanities Grant at Bradford College for work on Creativity. That same year he and Michael Morris were awarded an Environmental Sculpture Grant to create and install a work for the 8th New England Art Biennial at UMASS Amherst. Marc advanced to Full professor at Bradford College, including Arts Division Chair and was awarded two Endowed Chairs, in Art and Art History and in Teaching. In 1999, he was awarded the C.A. Johnson Fund for New Initiatives Grant to spend 6 weeks on Sabbatical in Florence, Italy, studying Fresco painting. He led a group of students there in 1999.

In 2005, he was commissioned to create a large Fresco with students at New England College, Henniker, New Hampshire. In 2014, he was chosen by Team Haverhill to paint a large fiberglass shoe, along with two of his students, as part of Haverhill, Massachusetts’ “Soles of Haverhill”. In 2019, he was commissioned, along with the artist Brian Alves, to paint a mural in Lowell, Massachusetts. In 2021, two of his paintings were selected for inclusion in the StudioArts publication. In 2023, he was commissioned to paint a mural in Haverhill.

What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?

“I was born in the Bronx (NYC) and grew up in a family of artists. My mother came from Ukraine and her four brothers were all artists and well-known Cartoonists. My godfather, my Uncle Salo Roth, had a nationally syndicated strip, “Laughing Matter.” He was my mentor and teacher for all things art. He took me to the Metropolitan Museum for the first time when I was four. He always encouraged me, as did my other uncles. When it came time for college he said, “apply to the best schools you have nothing to lose and a good portfolio.” I did and was accepted to Pratt Institute. I was interested in sculpture but decided to major in industrial design as it taught me about materials and structure, and I gained a profession. In grad school NYU, I double majored in sculpture and art education.”

What inspires you?

“I try to live my life Mindfully and am inspired by endless things. I have lived my life as an artist with the tenet, “There are no rules.” My inspirations can really be anything.”

What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?

“I have worked on many themes in my art. I have always been attracted to the things that most of us never pay attention to or give little thought to. For the last 18 years, I have been working on a series based on the Ten Plagues of Egypt from the Bible’s Old Testament, I am currently working on the last one (for me), Gnats. Over the years, I have produced 9 large paintings, many large and smaller watercolors, woodblock prints, drawings, collages, sculpture and neon work relating to this theme. There are of course many works produced over this time that did not necessarily relate to this theme.”

How would you describe your work?

“My work is very layered in meaning, though I do not expect the viewer to “see” this but to hopefully be drawn in by the images themselves. I would say my work can be challenging to the viewer but hopefully they spend some time looking and allowing the aspects of it to be revealed. Most important to me is that my work evokes a response, be it positive of negative, indifference is hopefully avoided.”

Which artists influence you most?

“Initially, I was greatly influenced by my uncles. I discovered Leonardo Da Vinci at 9 or 10 and he still influences me today. I have had the joy of teaching art history for many years and been able to study, teach and live extensively in Italy, mainly Florence. This opened me up to many 15th-17th century artists. Those who have and do affect me are Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Artemisia Gentileschi, Jacopo Pontormo and Agnolo Bronzino, among others. Caspar David Friedrich and other 19th century painters have shown me much as well. I have greatly been influenced by Max Ernst and Francis Picabia. More recently, Lucien Freud and Francis Bacon. The work of Anselm Kiefer consistently affects me.”

“My work is very layered in meaning, though I do not expect the viewer to “see” this but to hopefully be drawn in by the images themselves.”

What is your creative process like?

“When working on a painting, I begin with an idea or if part of a series a concept related to it. I will create several drawings leading to a full realization of the direction I will go in. I make my own stretchers and based on the idea will then construct it. Many of my works over my career have been shaped canvases and those stretchers I also construct. Next is stretching and priming. My canvases are always primed with 6-8 layers of gray gesso. I mix this tone myself. Each layer is sanded when dry. Once I achieve the desired surface, I attach wire to the back and hang the canvas on my easel. I built my studio myself as an addition to my house. On my painting wall, 12’x12’, are installed 4’x8’ sheets of pegboard, distanced from the wall by ½” to allow for the hanging pegs to insert. I then will draw the plan onto the canvas. If I am working from a composite photo, I created from my own photos using Photoshop, this is grided in scale with a grid drawn on the canvas. I draw with a white pencil usually. Depending on the composition, I usually will premix the important base colors, such as skin tone, or background, etc. These are placed into empty paint tubes and labeled. I have a great many of these in my paint drawers and re-use them endlessly on other works. I have a medium I mix, a combination of Stand oil, linseed oil and Copal. I build up layers as I paint, one of the reasons why I spend so much time preparing my surface.”

What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?

“I have always seen the artist as a predictor or sentinel in society. History has shown us that artists, all types of creative people, tend to “see” before the masses do, though I feel that most of the time this message is not seen. I have done many works presenting significant social and political statements and have always felt that the work needs to speak for itself, unless I am asked about it, in my experience a rare occurrence. Today, with the pervasive prominence of social media, many more are being exposed to artist’s views and hopefully are taking heed, time will tell.”