"Brilliance "
"Enchanting "
"Innocence "
Bill Mack
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"Brilliance " |
"Enchanting " |
"Innocence " |
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"Tchaikovsky " |
"Pavlova " |
"Calling my artwork bas-relief," Mack says, "is incorrect since bas-relief technically refers to low relief sculpture. My art, in fact, has more physical depth than high relief; it incorporates various elements in full-round rising toward the viewer as in my "Illusion" image where her leg leaves the background extending into space. Technically, sculptures combining various levels of relief and full-round parts are called 'Alto Relief' sculptures. A similar technique has been used on classic Roman and Greek buildings. However, until I offered my current collection of sculptures, this art form had not appeared to any extent in galleries."
Combining low and high relief, incised lines, and elements in the full-round in sculpture works that are light enough to be hung on a wall, Mack directly involves the viewer in a 3-dimensional experience, both textural and tactile, that is often startling real.
"Mack's art elicits an immediate emotional response," notes one critic. "A moment in time is stopped, a familiar face revealed, the grace of a body in motion captured. The viewer becomes more than an observer; he becomes a participant in the drama unfolding before his eyes."
Mack was born in Minneapolis, in a family that had never had anyone directly involved in art. He was creating and selling oil portraits in high school. At 17 years old, while employed as a draftsman for a company making bronze dedication tablets, a crucial moment occurred which would change his life forever. Portraits are the most difficult image to create in relief. When a poor quality relief portrait for a memorial tablet created by another artist was submitted to the company for approval, Mack thought he could do a better job. He gave it a try and it was instantly accepted. He immediately quit his job and began a career as a commissioned relief sculptor.
Mack make's Minneapolis his primary home. Living in the Minneapolis metropolitan area he says, is pleasant, not only personally, but also professionally. "My time in the studio is precious. Being centrally located between the coasts, Europe and Japan, cuts down on travel time. I am close to my 25,000 square foot foundry and framing studio, also located in Minneapolis. Besides, as you might guess, there are fewer distractions here in the winter months, and I seem to accomplish the largest body of my work during this time."
Through his extensive artistic and business contacts around the world, Mack has also become an avid collector. His collection of paintings and drawings includes original works by such a diverse group of artists as Miro, Chagall, Picasso, Paul Jenkins, Jim Dine, and his friend and fellow Minnesotan, LeRoy Neiman. However, his collection, include several presidential letters written by Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, John Kennedy, and others. To decorate his tiered video theater, he collects and displays a treasure of costumes such as the one worn by Bert Lahr as the Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of Oz, Clark Gable's coat from Gone With The Wind, and Lon Chaney's suit from Phantom of the Opera. Youthful and enthusiastic, ambitious and stylish, the mustachioed Mack has a distinctive flair about him. For example, there is a fresh red rose bud he wears on his lapel every day. Though he will not reveal the personal reason why he began the practice some years ago, the red rose has become a symbolic trademark. Presenting them at gallery openings, he has become the largest non-commercial buyer of roses in the world, requiring tens of thousands of them each year. Without a doubt, Bill Mack's creations are strikingly unique in the world of art. In or out of his studio, Mack is an unusual man and artist, influencing today's world of contemporary art.
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