The Newman University Steckline Gallery will present paintings by Mark Flickinger in the exhibit “Meditations and Iterations: A Search for the Sublime in the North American Landscape,” as its last Final Friday event of the 2016-2017 season. The exhibit, which begins with a Final Friday reception from 5 to 7 p.m. on April 28, will be on display through May 19. Both the reception and admission to the gallery are free and open to the public.
The April 28 Final Friday event will also include the opening reception of the Senior Students Exhibition in the Hallway Gallery. The exhibit of artwork by Newman senior art students will also be on display through May 19. The reception and admission are free and open to the public.
An “Art for Lunch” presentation by artist Mark Flickinger will be held Tuesday, May 2, from noon to 1 p.m. in the gallery. A light lunch will be served on a first-come, first-served basis. Guests can also bring their lunch. This event is also free and reservations are not required.
Originally from Linwood, Calif., Flickinger currently paints and teaches at Cowley College in Arkansas City, Kan. He earned a BFA in painting and drawing from Wichita State University in 1989, where he studied under Ron Christ and Kathleen Shannahan. He earned an MFA in painting from the Henry R. Hope School of Fine Arts at Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind., in 1991, where he studied under Barry Gealt, Bonnie Sklarski, Robert Barnes and William Itter.
Flickinger’s work has been shown in solo exhibitions in the Kansas City area, Indianapolis, Ind., and Chicago, Ill. He has also been a part of group exhibitions in Kansas, Indianapolis, Chicago, Boston, Mass., and Philadelphia. Pa. His work has also appeared in several books and publications, including the ARC International Salon Catalog, New American Paintings and The Best of Oil Paintings. In addition, his work has been commissioned by and included in such collections as the Purdue University Art Museum, Eli Lilly Pharmaceuticals, the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., and U.S. Embassies in Morocco and Belize, and in private collections of Tim Allen of Los Angeles, Calif., and other individuals.
“My most recent work is centered on the search for the Sublime, Iconic, American vista and how painting becomes a way of understanding my place in it,” Flickinger said. “I am interested in the role of painting historically in the development of an American identity and sense of place. The questions I ask are: What part is invention? What part is mediation? What part is fiction? What is the role of memory? What is uniquely American? What do I expect to see in these so-called sublime spaces? Why am I, like so many, drawn to them?
“It is important for me to be in the landscape and experience the light, weather, and changing nature of the place,” he added. “I paint studies In Situ. Ultimately, I love color, paint, texture, space, air, and light. I have a compulsion to paint and be in these places. I cannot separate my need to transcribe these experiences of place and the experience of painting itself.”
The Steckline Gallery is located inside the De Mattias Fine Arts Center on the Newman campus, 3100 McCormick. The gallery is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., or by appointment. For more information, call Director of Visual Arts Mary Werner at 316-942-4291, ext. 2199 or email her at [email protected].
(Above: “Kauterskill Creek, Catskills” by Mark Flickinger. 28” x 34” oil painting on canvas.)
