I would describe my work as a kind of funky abstraction. I am interested in how shapes relate to one another and somehow generate their own enigmatic personalities.  There’s often a cartoony quality to the forms I create, they seem to exist independently in their own worlds, floating, singular and free from everyday burdens. 

Working across different disciplines is an important aspect to my practice, ideas develop and feed off each other. My approach is to explore the tactility of everyday materials; papier mâché, clay, wood, cardboard. I am fascinated by their textural and physical properties, the way they generate feelings of impermanence and imperfection. These materials and techniques  are essentially used to maximize the potential for joyful improvisation.

Mark Wheatley aka Marko lives and work in West Sussex, UK

Selected Exhibitions/ Art Fairs

2023 HPF, print fair, Hepworth Gallery, Wakefield, UK.

2022 BOH, group show, Brighton, UK.

2021 Nottingham Contemporary Print Fair, Nottingham, UK.

2019 Loooook, solo show, Colonnade House, Worthing West Sussex, UK

2019 Colour Showcase, group show, Mostyn Gallery, Llandudno. UK

2019 HPF, Print fair, Hepworth Gallery, Wakefield, UK. 

2018 Print Stuff, De Grey Rooms, York, UK.

2017 People are Strange, solo show, Here Gallery, Bristol, UK.

2016 Lesson, group show, Oxmarket Contemporary, Chichester,UK.

2015 Pushing the Envelope, group show, The Illustration Gallery, London, UK

2015 Art Junky, group show, Phoenix Gallery, Brighton, UK.

2013 HOT-ONE-HUNDRED, group show, Schwartz Galley, London, UK

2013 No Dark Places Festival, Alternative Press Fair, London, UK.

2011 Pulp Fictions, group show, Transition Gallery, London, UK.

2011 Print & Design Now, group show, SW1 Gallery & Bearspace Gallery, London, UK.

2011 International Alternative Press Festival, Conway Hall, London, UK.

2010 Berlin Bongout, group show, Octopus Gallery, Brighton, UK.

2010 Brighton Art Fair, Corn Exchange, Brighton, UK.

2010 Wonder & Confusion, solo show, Bookstack, Worthing, UK.

2008 Charity Shop Compendium, group show, Birnam Arts Centre, Dunkeld, Scotland, UK

2005 Visions from Nowhere: 'SHEDS', group show, William Morris Gallery, London, UK

2005 Other Worlds, solo show, Oxmarket Contemporary, Chichester, UK

Commissions

Warby Parker store interior artwork, Massachusetts, USA. 2023

Fabric Designs for Kindred Print, UK. 2023

Publications

Pressing Matters Magazine, issue 10, The Beat Goes On 2020

Looking at Painting, volume 2, publication, 2016