Printmaker Mark VandeBrake

Mark VandeBrake has been using his art to tell the important stories in his life since childhood. After undergraduate study in art at Hope College in Holland, Michigan, VandeBrake went on to earn an MFA at the University of Tennessee (1973). His use of precise detail and vibrant color are hallmarks of his work. His prints and watercolors have been the subject of numerous one man shows. Two lithographs, one of a map of the US with cartoon-like overlays and a portrait of jazz musician Muddy Waters, were purchased by the USIA to hang in embassies and consulates around the world.
Vande Brake's most recent show in the fall of 1998 was an exhibition of 34 watercolor paintings that chronicle his struggle to survive the malignant melanoma that was diagnosed in January of the same year. These paintings are the story of his fight with the disease and his own fears. In the process he discovered unresolved feelings about his parents, both deceased; the painting helped him come to terms with his feelings and the cancer.


Mark VandeBrake Printmaker Grand Rapids MI
	Art as Story Mark VandeBrake has been using his art to tell the important stories in his life since childhood. After undergraduate study in art at Hope College in Holland, Michigan, VandeBrake went on to earn an MFA at the University of Tennessee (1973). His use of precise detail and vibrant color are hallmarks of his work. His prints and watercolors have been the subject of numerous one man shows. Two lithographs, one of a map of the US with cartoon-like overlays and a portrait of jazz musician Muddy Waters, were purchased by the USIA to hang in embassies and consulates around the world. Vande Brake's most recent show in the fall of 1998 was an exhibition of 34 watercolor paintings that chronicle his struggle to survive the malignant melanoma that was diagnosed in January of the same year. These paintings are the story of his fight with the disease and his own fears. In the process he discovered unresolved feelings about his parents, both deceased; the painting helped him come to terms with his feelings and the cancer.
The JFK Print Series Oswald Is Innocent The Bloody Patriots The Scapegoat Sacrificed The Warren Commission St. Sebastian	The JFK series consists of 5 prints that VandeBrake created in response to seeing Oliver Stone's film JFK. Mark's response to the possibility of conspiracy in the assassination of John Kennedy was, like Jim Garrison's response, one of horror and disbelief. He began to read extensively and to record his thoughts and feelings in the silk screen prints.
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