- Angie Mason
American artist Angie Mason became a part of this world in 1973 in Northern New Jersey born to factory-worker parents. Her Mother Jeanne was a weaver at an artistic label loom factory and her father Vincent was a cookie dough dumper in a cookie factory. Angie also has 3 sisters, one older and two younger siblings from her mothers second marriage. Angie's parents divorced when she was 11 and so continued the upheaval in her early life living with her father she was uprooted many times during her younger years growing up all over New Jersey and other places such as Florida and Puerto Rico.She lived with her father for the rest of her schooling till after high school graduation she then left New Jersey to attend Parsons School Of Design in New York City.
During her Junior year of high school in 1990 Mason attends the Summer Arts Institute of New Jersey where she spent 2 months of focused studies in Painting, Photography and Writing. This experience also allowed her to interact with many other artist peers with whom she developed life long friendships with.
In the Fall of 1991 she Began her college studies for the first two years at Parsons. Spending the first year in their Foundation program then choosing to major in Painting in the Fine Art Department where she finished her sophomore in sheer disappointment of academic life and decided to quit school for now after also having many financial hardships. She took about two years off from her schooling working at an Art Supply store and regrouping. It is during this time at the Art Supply store she met her Husband Lyle Briggs.
Mason came to the decision that she would reapply to Parsons but under the Illustration Department. Many of her foundation peers have had successful times with that programs and felt her tendency toward characterization with her work and more representational works would fit better in that program. At the time she was in college the fine art department was very minimal and conceptual putting down any of her attempts to be representational. She found a much better fit to help nurture her sensibilities and grow as an artist within the Illustration Department . In 1997 she graduated with a B.F.A. in 1997.
From 1998-2001 Angie held several different Design/Art director jobs where she utilized her love of characters designing many different characters for the numerous commercial web companies she worked for. All the while she continued to make her personal work and in 2001 she had her first solo showing in Hoboken N.J. This really laid the groundwork of her exhibition history. It was this moment that acted as a catalyst that would be the beginning of many many shows both group and solo.
Mason's works are exhibited Nationally throughout the United States and Internationally having had solo exhibits in Berlin Germany as well as many groups shows all over Europe,Canada and Asia. Her paintings are strong in color and character heavy concepts. In Mason’s paintings she creates a visual playground where she deals with the human condition and emotions through the use of creating slightly off quirky characters that are beautifully rendered yet have a painterly hand and an innocent raw touch.
In March 2004 just on the brink of many big group shows she was taking part in she suffered a terrible accident where someone broke and nearly severed her left thumb leaving her unable to use her left hand which was her dominant hand to make art with. She went through long bouts of therapy which left her frustrated with her current situation and depressed. It was then where she really pushed herself to learn how to work using her right hand since she had such a strong desire and need to make art. She currently is back to working with her left hand but now feels she is in a better place having the right hand back up and she said"it has really come in handy when my left hand gets tired from the permanent nerve damage suffered in the left hand."
In late 2005 Angie meets Gallery Director and Owner of Strychnin Gallery Yasha Young, online corresponding through email. The two meet officially in person in early 2006 marking the beginning of Angie's working relationship with Yasha Young and Strychnin Gallery.
In May 2006 Angie held her second Solo showing of works in an exhibition entitled 'HouseBroken' at ArtStar Gallery in Philadelphia. Later that year she also has another Solo show in Seattle entitled 'Delectable Demons' at Schmancy Gallery.
In July 2007 marked Mason's first international Solo Show in Berlin Germany at Strychnin Gallery. Her body of work she produced for this exhibit was entitled 'Life Sore Spores'. There is a specialized artist statement she wrote for this show as she has done with all her shows. Most of her art statement essays can be found on her website or on her memory jar journal blog.
There is a childlike charm within her works mixed with a dark side that make her seemingly cute characters also twisted, moody bruised souls. Mason's use of light and dark play a perfect balance on this see-saw of a visual ride. Her melancholy menagerie of characters and worlds are a funny, whimsical, dark and tragic view at the wonderful mess of life.
Currently, Angie is living in a spooky old house in Northern, New Jersey with her Husband and their very bad kitty Nervil.
OLO SHOWS
September 2008:The Rabbit-Hole Gallery - Atlanta, Georgia - MURKY MENAGERIE SOLO SHOW
December 2007:Frozen Monkey Gallery - Hoboken, New Jersey - BITS & PIECES- SOLO SHOW
July 2007:Strychnin Gallery - Berlin, Germany - LIFE SORE SPORES- SOLO SHOW
July 2006:Schmancy Gallery-Seattle, WA. - DELECTABLE DEMONS SOLO SHOW
May 2006:ArtStar Gallery-Philadelphia, PA. - HOUSE BROKEN SOLO SHOW
July 2001: Ristra Gallery, Hoboken, NJ - SOLO SHOW : Paintings and DrawingsGROUP SHOWS:
2008
January 2008: Kenneth Chapman Gallery - NY DeepPop Group show
January 2008: MF Gallery - NYC Sci-fi Group show
February 2008: MF Gallery - Girls Girls Girls 2 Group show
March 2008: Alcove Gallery - Atlanta,Ga.Cartoon Madness 3 Group show
March 2008: Strychnin Gallery FUSION FIVE FESTIVAL, Cannes FR.
April 2008: AlphaCult Gallery - LongBeach,Ca. The Fixed 100 Charity Group show
April 2008: ArtWhino Gallery - Washington,D.C. World Space Party Group show
May 2008: MF Gallery - L.E.S. Final Group show
June 2008: H.Q. Galerie Anniversary Group Show
June 2008: Genuine Artikle Gallery Grand Opening Group Show
July 2008: Crybaby Gallery Group Show
July 2008: M Modern Gallery Group Show - Crimes On Canvas
August 2008: Distinction Gallery - Project 57 Group show
December 2008: Distinction Gallery - Escondido, CA Group show2007
December 2007: Feinkunst Krüger - Hamburg, Germany Don't Wake Daddy 2 -Group show
December 2007: Schmancy Gallery - Seattle, WA. Group show
December 2007: Strychnin Gallery - Berlin & London Holiday Group show
November 2007: DVA Gallery - Chicago,IL. Pick of the Harvest Group show
October 2007: Art Whino Gallery - Washington, D.C. Group Show
October 2007: Strychnin Gallery - LONDON. Grand Opening Group Show
October 2007:Foster Museum, Wisconsin - Rome is Burning Group Show
September 2007:Harold Golen Gallery, Miami, Florida - Grand Opening Group Show
August 2007: Foundation One Gallery, Atlanta, GA. Group Show
June 2007: ThinkSpace Gallery - Los Angeles, Ca. Remission:Charity Art show
June 2007:HeadQuarters Galerie, Montreal, Canada - Knock Your Socks Off Group Show
June 2007:Rivet Gallery, Columbus,Ohio - Grand Opening Group Show
June 2007:McCaig & Welles Gallery, Brooklyn, NY - ArtDorks Group Show: Squared
May 2007: Windup Gallery, Phoenix, Az. - Inaugural Group show:The Rising
April 2007: Alcove Gallery, Atlanta, GA. Group Show Cartoon Madness
April 2007: CryBaby Gallery, Asbury Park, NJ. Group Show
April 2007: ThinkSpace Gallery, L.A. Ca. Picks Of the Harvest Group Show
March 2007: Jem Gallery, Vancouver, Canada - Ladies Only Group Show
February 2007:Strychnin Gallery, NYC - Dark Hearts and Broken Vows Show
January 2007:Operation Fragmentation Group Show BOMA Gallery, Ohio
January 2007: ThinkSpace Gallery - Los Angeles,CA. - Group Show2006
December 2006:Strychnin Gallery NYJL Charity Event NYC
December 2006:Operation Fragmentation Group Show - Ohio
December 2006:Feinkunst Krüger - Hamburg,Germany - Don't Wake Daddy Group Show
November 2006:Guild of the Black Eagle presents "II" Salon Group Show-NYC
November 2006:MF Gallery - NYC,NY - Annual Group Toy Show
November 2006:ArtStar Gallery - Philadelphia,PA - Holiday Group Show
October 2006:Strychnin Gallery NYC - Arcanum Group Showcase with other artists such asLori Earley , David Hochbaum, David Stoupakis, Travis Louie and Kris Kuski to name a few.
October 2006:Toyroom Gallery-Sacramento,CA. - 'Everything Nice' A Women's Group Show
October 2006:Space Gallery-San Francisco,CA. -Sick and Loaded Group Show
October 2006:Blah Blah Gallery-Online -Modern Monster Group Show
October 2006:ThinkSpace Gallery-Los Angeles,CA. - Group Show
September 2006:BlackCat Gallery-L.A. - Group Show
September 2006 MF Gallery,New York City,NY. -Halloween Group Show
September 2006:Mmodern Gallery-Palm Springs,CA. - Women With Issues Group Show
August 2006:McCaig-Welles Gallery-Brooklyn,NY - 2007 Artist Preview Group Show
July 2006:Strychnin Gallery Berlin Germany - Art Attacks Group Showcase
July 2006:Headquarters Galerie-Montreal,Canada - Group Show
June 2006:BlackCat Gallery,Los Angeles,CA. - Group Show Festival
June 2006:ThinkSpace Gallery-Los Angeles,CA. - Group Show
May/June 2006:Guild of the Black Eagle presents "I" Salon Group Show-NYC
April 2006 MF Gallery,New York City,NY. -Girls Girls Girls Group Show
March 2006:OX-OP,Minneapolis,MN. - Juxtapoz Group Show
March 2006:BlackCat Gallery,Los Angeles,CA. - Group Show
January 2006:DVA Gallery,Chicago,Il - House Sale : A Group Show
January 2006:CB's 313 Gallery,New York City,NY- Visual Residue : A Group Show2005
December 2005:Feral Gallery,Santa Fe,New Mexico -Art Party Show
December 2005: Head Magazine Feature - U.K.
Nov.-Dec. 2005:Territory Magazine Volume4 Exhibit - Tokyo,Japan
Nov.-Dec. 2005:MModern Gallery,PalmSprings,Ca.- BlastFromThePast Group Show
Nov.-Dec. 2005:MF Gallery,NYC,NY - Toy Show
Nov.-Dec. 2005:ArtStar Gallery,Philadelphia,Pa - Ornament Group Show
November 2005:Give Into The Groove Charity Event - Los Angeles,Ca
October 2005:DvA Gallery,Chicago,Il - Werewolf Bongo Party Group Show
October 2005:Territory Magazine Volume4 (International)Exhibit and Feature - Paris,France
August 2005:Alcove Gallery,Atlanta,Ga - Fruit Bowl Group Show
July 2005:Vitale Gallery - St. Petersburg Florida - Hot & Bothered A Group Show
June 2005:Pr1mary Space Gallery,Hamtramck,Mi - 'Primary Red'Group Show
June 2005:Toyroom Gallery,Sacramento,Ca -'Six Offenders'Group Show
May 2005:Vitale Gallery - St. Petersburg Florida - Ladies Room A Group Show
May 2005:Blah Blah Gallery - Special Guest Featured Artist
February 2005:Gallery 1988,Los Angeles,Ca - The Valentine's Variety Show
January 2005:The Lab 101 Gallery,Culver City,Ca - Eye of the Beholder Group Show2004
September 2004:BlackCat Gallery,Los Angeles,Ca - Vicious: A Group Show
August 2004: The Tart Gallery Tart Of The Month Artist Spotlight
July 2004: Sumo Shop - Featured Artist
April 2004 : OX-OP Gallery, Minneapolis Mn - Rated XX - Group Show
March 2004 : CB's 313 Gallery, N.Y.C- Mangled Menagerie Group Show1990-2003
February 2003 : The Be Gallery, Asbury Park NJ - Valentines Day Group Show
November 2001: Ristra Gallery, Hoboken NJ : Unity: Together For Tomorrow Benefit Show
August 2001: Hoboken Arts and Music Fest - Group Show
March 1997: Parsons Gallery, NYC NY : Illustration Show Senior Thesis Exhibit
1991: NJ Arts Council Exhibit Tour : Group Show
1990: Rutgers Gallery NJ : Group ShowSelected Press
[http://angiemason.com/AngieMason_PressKitSmall.pdf Official Artist Press Kit ]
April 2008: [http://www.juxtapoz.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2962&Itemid=121 Juxtapoz Magazine Online: Video Interview from Fusion 5 Festival]
March 2008: Stretching Canvas Magazine: Feature Article
March 2008: Dazed & Confused Magazine Online : Feature Article Fusion 5 Festival
July 2007: [http://www.newtalents.tv/Webreport/angiemason.htm Life Sore Spores SOLO SHOW@ Strychnin Gallery Television Interview, New Talents T.V. Berlin Germany]
May 2007: [http://www.mungbeing.com/issue_13.html?articleID=1087/ Mung Being Magazine Artist Feature and Interview ]
April 2007: [http://blahblahgallery.com/ BlahBlah Gallery Artist Feature and Interview ]
February 2007: [http://musicisart.blogspot.com/2007/02/artist-feature-angie-mason.html Music Is Art Blog Feature ]
January 2007: Low Magazine, Show Review Germany
December 2006: [http://fuse.tv/upload/strychnin.php Fuse Television Interview at Strychnin Gallery ]
October 2006: [http://theextrafinger.blogspot.com/2006/10/interview-with-angie-mason.html The Extra Finger Blog Interview ]
September 2006: Interview for HDTV at MF gallery Halloween Show
May 2006: [http://static.flickr.com/54/160956344_adc4304246_o.jpgShow Review Artitcle in Philly Metro Newpaper ]
March 2006: Star Tribune Reviews Juxtapoz Group Show Featuring my painting in the article alongsideJeff Soto ,Elizabeth McGrath andCamille Rose Garcia . December 2005: Interview for HDTV at MF gallery Toy Show
December 2005: Head Magazine Feature - U.K.
October 2005: [http://angiemason.com/territorystory.pdf Territory Magazine Volume4 (International) Feature]
May 2005:Blah Blah Gallery - Special Guest Featured Artist
August 2004: The Tart Gallery Tart Of The Month Artist Spotlight
July 2004: Sumo Shop - Featured ArtistArtist's Statement:
My visual playground is full of freaky dogs, depressed hearts, devilish deviants and angelic sad sweetness. It is a stitched queasy quilt of patchwork emotions, animperfect, cracked veiny world in all it's beautiful imperfections. It is a place where failures, wishers and dreamers live; A place that brings laughter and sadness togetherfor tea. It is a funny, whimsical, dark and tragic view at the wonderful mess of life.
A disjointed upbringing influenced and helped form my visual imagination andsensibilities. I visually explore the twisted combinations of funny and sad, of dark and light. Thehuman experience is full of many strange tragic moments that are sad yet, at the same time, so full of comedy. I like the balance of opposites and using my characters as a way to paint truths aboutbeing human creating this balance or a tug of war between good and evil, hope and despair. We allhave to face demons in our lives and in my paintings my characters are sometimes facing theirs orare in fact the demon themselves. I convey a mixed up bag of emotions by showing elements ofloneliness, joy, love, sadness and longing sprinkled throughout.
Aside from personal life influences, my inspiration comes in many forms ranging from imaginationsuch as memories and dreams to fairy tales and folklore, music, design, surrealism and Bosch. Isurround myself with obscure, fantastic information, odd objects and loads of imagery including Folk and Visionary art, the occult, old antique found objects, nature, nonsense, carnival images, mythology,legends, pseudo science and comics. Having a wide scope of personal interests only deepens myartistic vision allowing me to utilize and personalize knowledge within my own work.
Creating magic in life and making a personal universe is a wonderful gift not only to myselfbut also to the others around me. A wise cookie I ate once told me "Ideas you may believeare absurd ultimately lead to success. Lucky numbers:22, 12, 7, 36, 4, 25"
I visually explore the twisted combinations of opposites through the creation of slightly off characters by combining funny and sad, dark and light, innocence and danger, cute and ugly playing in perfect balance with each other. The human experience is full of many strange tragic moments that are so sad yet, at the same time, so full of comedy. It is this type of life truth that I chose to focus on within my work. Dealing with the human experience and condition by using my characters as a way to paint my truths about being human creating this balance or a tug of war between good and evil, hope and despair. We all have to face demons in our lives and in my paintings my characters are sometimes facing theirs or are in fact the demon themselves.
See also
*
Lowbrow (art movement)
*Juxtapoz Magazine External links
* [http://www.angiemason.com Angie Mason Official Art SIte]
* [http://www.mungbeing.com/issue_13.html?articleID=1087 Interview in MungBeing Magazine]
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