🚀 go-pugleaf

"...A man of remarkable vision and dream for the future of
Shadowville. He split downtown wide open when very few of us lived and
loved on old Broadway. It hasn't turned out like we wanted, exactly,
back in 1995, but it *did* happen..."
-Will Dockery, 9 May 2003 12:06:29 -0700

http://web.archive.org/web/20030713222245/http://www.markcoile.com/artwork/bw.html

Link Fixed ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

In Mark's Words

"I am a self-taught artist, and like to think of my
art as recycled art - many of the larger pieces were
store fixtures that light up and/or turn electrically.
These pieces lend a commercial tone to my work even
after being remade into something new. Electric light
is an element that I use whenever possible; these
built-in sources of usually colored light are capable
of creating a wide range of moods. Mirrors are another
component I use frequently for their ability to
incorporate the viewer's image onto the piece so it
becomes an integral part of the piece. Folk art has
been around for a very long time. My own visionary
folk art is of places in time I have visited. No doubt
folk art will continue to evolve as long as there are
folks to make it. I think the drawings I do now may be
what folk art might look like in the future..." -Mark Coile

As an artist living with AIDS, Mark Coile created
worlds of comfort and beauty, deceptively simple in
design, raging with color, content and hope. These
works represent his vision at the onset of the AIDS
epidemic and also reflect a creative life, maturing
and surviving in a West Georgia town. This body of
artwork is original in design and orientation. Adding
value to this work are "found" objects from his
environment which were incorporated into various
sculpture.

Working from LaRonde in Columbus, Georgia, his first
gallery, Mark searched the downtown area for found art
supplies. Old signs or doorknobs, junk to anyone else,
became art to him. As a self-described "outsider
artist", Mark's works were many and varied, his talent
far-reaching, encompassing every known medium in one
way or another.

Much of Mark's art appeals to children of all ages.
His cartoon world of skyscrapers and spaceports is
filled with mystery and innuendo. Many adult themes
are explored in this cartoon medium. A sculpture,
"Sex-O-Matic", a part of the permanent collection at
Columbus Museum, is a mixed media assemblage of a
variety of objects, from seashells to machine parts,
and is a play on his own last name - with coils of
wire and spinning coils in the lighted box.

In the mid-90's, Mark traveled to Birmingham, Alabama
to gain entrance into a national AIDS drug trial and
as a test subject was one of the first men in history
to benefit from the then unheard of "protease
inhibitors". Because of Mark and one other test
subject's positive response to the treatments,
protease inhibitors gained acceptance as a method to
fight AIDS. While in Birmingham, Mark's art work
gained the notice of art therapists and Mark's art was
applied to a line of greeting cards, sold worldwide to
benefit AIDS research.

Mark taught after-school art classes to children
through the Urban League and was a supporter of the
local art scene. Working with Playgrounds Magazine,
Mark began a monthly column, "Artrageous", which
highlighted local museum, art and music events in the
Columbus area. He was the 1997 recipient of the
magazines award for best sculpture artist.

1. ELECTRIC ELECTRIC GALLERY - Atlanta, Georgia (1996)
A gallery of electric sources of light in artful
shapes and themes.
2. THE WHITE HOUSE - Bibb City, Georgia (1995 - 96)
An ongoing, ever changing environment that Mark
lived and worked in.
3. GENISH GALLERY - Columbus, Georgia (1995-96)
A gallery that highlighted local artists in solo
exhibits.
4. PASAQUAN - Buena Vista, Georgia (1992-96)
A volunteer in the restoration of St. Eoms'
masterpiece.
5. VARIOUS PARTICIPATION IN GROUP SHOWS
a. Miriam's Cafe - Columbus, Georgia (1996)
b. Clary Sage Gallery - Birmingham, Alabama (1993)
c. Richard Tubbs Interiors - Birmingham, Alabama
(1991)
d. 800 east - Atlanta, Georgia (1995)
e. SOS (Save Outdoor Sculpture) - (1994)
f. Urban League Summer Youth Program - (1995)
g. Laronde Gallery - Columbus, Georgia (1992 -
1995)

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