25 Nov 2010

Artist 46: Mark Goss








Mark Goss is our next feature. Illustrator at large, Mark is a great ambassador for illustration. He takes it to the people and what could be better publicity for illustration than the bold captivating work of Mark Goss. His work takes me to a culture I love and understand but he does it with true style and grit. His work is considered, fresh and captures that great cultural border of graffiti, skate and tattoo art that brings so many together and translates globally. His work is not just about bold colour and raw creativity there is also skill and  intelligence behind it. As Mark says, he wants people to interpret his work without guidance and to this end he gives us some great helping hands but the rest is up to us. That's a lesson worth learning for everyone, Illustration is about giving, giving to the viewer, the client or the world. Whether you're up on a flier for a day a wall for an evening or a yearbook you change perceptions and broaden horizons. Whilst I may not be able to go back to my days of skate, house parties and live music Mark gives me the chance to live vicariously through his work, without the dislocated hips and frozen fingers. Great work which allows you to think, read about him here. 


Who are you:
Hello, my name is Mark Goss and I am an illustrator and designer currently based in Antwerp, Belgium.

What do you do:
The main constant in my work is drawing, I try not to limit myself when it comes to the canvas; it might be anything from a large outdoor wall, a van or even a body, but almost always the work is based in lined drawings. My personal work; inspired a lot by traditional western tattooing, a touch of skate style graphics and some other various influences, is informed by my daily experiences and I try as often as possible to use primary sources of reference to create images, where possible I try to include this personal sense in professional briefs as well.

How did you start:
I have always drawn and painted but when I was just about to go into my last year of school I decided that a typical academic route wasn't for me, so I left before A Levels to study fine art at college. Throughout college I made a lot of typographic work so it was recommended for me to do graphic design and I then found myself studying it at university, although it probably wasn't the best route for me it made art more appealing and interesting as it was all on my own terms. I decided that illustration was the profession to pursue so after finishing my degree I kind of left graphic design by the way side and have been trying my hand at illustration and art, although I do some graphic design work from time to time.

A Personal statement about you or your work:
I always struggle with an answer when people ask what kind of work I do and what it is about. When I look at other artists I try to find my own way of understanding their work and I think that's how I would like people to see my work, to just take from it what you see however complex or simple their idea might be.

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