I just got back from my London and Amsterdam trip and was completely blown away by the bicycle culture in Amsterdam. There are hundreds of bicycles everywhere in the city. There are no fancy track bikes that you see in cities like Portland, New York, and Tokyo. Instead they have brightly colored junkers that are of no value to bicycle thieves. The main form of transportation in Amsterdam is the bicycle. It is such an amazing city. Enjoy!
Robert Mars’ work is an evolving chronicle of Americana. He is determined to capture the independent aesthetic of the not-so-distant past that has been replaced by homogenized corporate culture and standardized cityscapes. Industrial design, graphic design, architecture, collage, and vintage neon all render important roles in his work.
Mars‘ paintings employ layers of color, collaged mid-century printed matter, and stark, black imagery. Remote, indistinct landscapes capture the poetic strips of nearly lost American highway that are unique, but fading under the modern mass-advertising onslaught. Formerly the promise of hope and prosperity; the rusted icons in Mars’ work are now a sign of desperation and ruin.
His eye for a distinct facet of American history is impeccable and precise, with hints of whimsy and an ability to manipulate the wordplay of vintage advertisements.
Mars’ work has been referenced with the likes of Andy Warhol, Stephen Shore, and Robert Rauschenberg,
and has been shown worldwide including galleries in Munich, Tokyo, Amsterdam, London, Bath, Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, Atlanta, Aspen, and Naples.