Mark Eisendrath to Exhibit at Zo Gallery, Baltimore, MD

Baltimore, MD, May 15, 2023 --(PR.com)-- Mark Eisendrath-Modern Materiality

Exhibition Dates: June 10 - July 1, 2023
Reception: Saturday, June 10 | 6 - 9pm
Location: Zo Gallery, 3510 Ash St., Baltimore, MD 21211

Beneath the wood’s pretty face
there is a story
not unlike our own.
To look at it is to read it.
To work with it is to feel it.
To feel it is to understand it.
And to understand it
is to know inner beauty.
The story that time tells over time.
- Mark Eisendrath

Zo Gallery is pleased to present Modern Materiality, an exhibition of work by Mark Eisendrath that explores the intersection of man and nature. In this current age of information and technology, the artist reminds us of the importance of artworks made by hand. Using wood as his principal material, Eisendrath exemplifies its motifs of transformation through powerful wall sculptures and geometric works on paper.

Modern Materiality showcases the artist’s ongoing investigation of the medium in a multitude of formats. Markedly different in scale and technique, Eisendrath’s prints, drawings and sculptures embody connective tissue that contribute to his process of art making. “The intense and cathartic processes of measuring, drawing, cutting and gluing is as much there (in my drawings and prints) as they are in my woodwork, yet most remain visible, whereas in sculpture the materiality of construction overtakes,” Eisendrath explains.

The selection of Eisendrath’s works on paper embody a quiet sophistication that is both intimate and elegant. His prints invite the viewer to observe the unique characteristics of wood that reveal rings, cracks and pores, not unlike the fleshy traits of a human. “To stare into a freshly cut end of a wooden beam is to see yourself - the moment you are born is as visible as your flaws, characteristics and cells that make you You. To make a print of that mirror is to make a self-portrait, but in reverse,” states the artist. What were once black spider web voids in the end grain of a wooden beam become purified white skeins after being transposed onto paper, leaving a ghostly trail of negative space.

Eisendrath’s Shelter Drawings function as diaristic renderings from the recent pandemic. Informed by the mandate to shelter in place, the artist observed beauty in the details through a renewed perspective of his natural environment. “With the absence of cars and people, I felt a certain freedom, one that I hadn’t experienced since childhood. Without the eerie silence of that period, I would not have noticed the simple beauty of the elm seedlings that fall in great numbers from the massive elm trees in Baltimore, nor would I have thought to use them in drawings.” Subsequently, Eisendrath found their presence to be self-evident and comfortable, as if this was the way things have always been. “The dots were there, long before I realized I could connect them,” he notes.

The true beacons of the show are Eisendrath’s abstract wall sculptures that act as a calming force on the wall. The vulnerabilities present in the wood’s structure make the surface more visually appealing, creating enticing secret worlds revealed by the play of light across the surface. As geometric symmetry meets organic imperfection, each piece becomes activated with a palpable energy.

Eisendrath has exhibited widely throughout the United States, including New York, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, Baltimore, Atlanta, Cincinnati and Ann Arbor. His work is included in many private, corporate and commercial collections both nationally and abroad. His work has been reviewed in The Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, Ann Arbor News, and Interview Style Magazine, among other publications. As a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design, Eisendrath has subsequently taught at the Corcoran College of Art and Design, George Mason University, and has been an artist in residence at the Rhode Island School for the Deaf. Eisendrath lives and works in Baltimore, Maryland. To learn more about the artist’s work, visit www.markeisendrath.com.

Zo Gallery is an inclusive art space with many multi-media exhibitions and projects. To learn more about the gallery, visit www.zogallery.com.