Michigan educator and fiber artist Mark Newport explores the social and cultural significance of textiles through his diverse body of work. His Costumes series, which appeared in form & concept’s Refashion group exhibition in summer 2016, comprises hand-knit superhero costumes that investigate cultural conceptions of heroism and protection. In early 2017, Newport unveiled a solo exhibition at the gallery titled Mending. The new body of work consists of torn muslin cloths with meticulously embroidered patches, symbols of the scars that life etches on the body and psyche. “Underneath the pop culture trappings of the earlier work, the body was always part of it,” the textile artist says. “While the Costumes were about power and armor, the new series is more about vulnerability. I’m flipping that coin on its head.”
Newport is the Head of Fiber and an artist-in-residence at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. He has exhibited his work throughout the United States, Canada and Europe, and is included in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Detroit Institute of Arts. He earned his BFA at the Kansas City Art Institute in 1986, and his MFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1991. “I love being an artist,” says Newport. “It allows you this ability to explore things in a way that you don’t always get to do. The work slows me down, and gives me a chance to think.”
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Newport To Open New Solo Exhibition at form & concept
Cranbrook Art Museum, February 15, 2017 -
Shifting Landscapes: Spotlight on form & concept
Lauren Sinner, Surface Design Association, November 21, 2016 -
Textiles and D.C. history, newly entwined
Kristen Page-Kirby, The Washington Post, March 19, 2015 -
Q and A: Mark Newport
Jordan Steffen, Smithsonian Magazine, October 2, 2009
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Summer Show 2021
25 Jun - 31 Jul 2021Carolyn Riman’s lush new series of 11 paintings, Plant People, anchors this year’s Summer Show at form & concept. The annual exhibition features new work by all of the gallery’s...Read more -
Summer Show 2020
26 Jun - 10 Oct 2020Every summer since its founding in 2016, form & concept has invited our dynamic array of represented artists to unite for a group exhibition of new works. Local and far-flung...Read more -
Summer Show
28 Jun - 12 Oct 2019It might be a little early in our gallery’s history,” says form & concept director Jordan Eddy. “But our summer exhibitions have become our favorite tradition.” Every summer since its...Read more -
form & concept Annual Exhibition 2018
27 Jul - 15 Sep 2018“ From the beginning, we were interested in reimagining what an art gallery could be,” says Frank Rose, Director of form & concept gallery. “The natural starting point was asking,...Read more -
MICROCOSM: Small Works Invitational
24 Nov - 23 Dec 2017“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together,” said Vincent Van Gogh. form & concept takes this thought to its logical conclusion in MICROCOSM, a holiday...Read more -
Mark Newport: Mending
24 Feb - 20 May 2017Mark Newport returns to form & concept for a solo exhibition that cuts to the heart of the Michigan textile artist’s practice. Mending features torn muslin cloths with meticulously embroidered...Read more -
ReFashion
19 Aug - 30 Oct 2016Opening August 19, 2016, form & concept presents ReFashion through October 30. “We’re basically playing with people’s expectations of what fashion or wearability is,” says Director and Curator, Frank Rose....Read more
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Opening Reception: Summer Show 2021
5 - 7pm 25 Jun 2021form & concept celebrates our annual Summer Show with brand new work by new and returning artists, including 11 new paintings by Carolyn Riman; a...Read more -
Opening: Summer Show
5 - 7pm 28 Jun 2019Every summer since its founding in 2016, form & concept has invited its dynamic team of represented artists to come together for a group exhibition...Read more