We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Mark Gleberzon. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Mark below.

Mark, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

Altho I’ve recently taken a full time job at an auction house I’ve been lucky to make a continued living also from my decades as a full time artist. Over the years I’ve participated in numerous art shows, fairs and trade shows – some great, some not so much – as well as exhibiting my work in restaurants and cafes, galleries and having been featured in magazines, on TV and social media outlets. From my own experience, it’s a continued effort trying to find a series or motif within my artwork that ‘lands’. Some series have been very received including my thirty year-long still life studies of Chairs and my (more) figurative Guardian series of paintings. While a more recent photographic series of Barbie (doll) portraits have been extremely well received lately.
Persistence and even my failures have allowed me to experiment, evolve and find success. Even during the worst that the Covid age threw at me.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a Toronto-based artist working in painting and photography. I graduated with Honours from the Ontario College of Art where I focused on graphic design and illustration. After a few less than exciting years doing graphic design I made the transition to my painting through murals and faux finishing which then further evolved to my fine art painting. Once I decided my painting was my true vocation, I participated in pretty much any show venue in Toronto which then eventually led me to doing numerous US shows (namely in New York City and Chicago) as well as participating in an art fair in Tokyo, Japan in 2018. Exposure was indeed the key.
Good or bad I love my versatility as an artist. I can easily transition from my painting to mixed-media assemblage as well as my photography. Some people can’t understand how I manage to work in completely different media – I love to experiment – while others love my approaches to different media.
I’ve also run and managed my own art gallery for four years, offered art lectures in two universities and currently co-manage a collective gallery with several other artists in Toronto, Canada.
Perhaps the most pivotal moment for me was when me and my Chair series were mentioned in someone’s blog who saw them in the Architectural Digest Home Decor Show in New York City, in 2009. That’s when I realized the strength of social media. That one post got picked up and shared on several different platforms that I received a flurry of custom orders and commissions soon after. While since then I’ve focused on maintaining and utilizing a website but especially using social media platforms – namely Facebook and Instagram – to stay relevant and keep people aware of what I’m up to.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I think like most creatives when Covid struck I had to completely pivot. As lock-downs and shut downs unfurled over the months after March 2020, when my full spring and summer schedule of art shows and fairs completely evaporated. I was set to participate in shows in Barcelona, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York City and of course back home in Toronto. By many accounts, Toronto was the most locked-down city outside of China. Some shows offered online opportunities but not being able to have people see my work in person, these show formats didn’t quite work out. That said, I was lucky that by July 2020 I was enjoying a pretty consistent schedule of custom commissions and follow-up sales as people realized (they to) weren’t going anywhere and decided it was time to decorate their living spaces and home offices.

Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

I’m not a fan of NFTs. I immediately saw them as a glorified pyramid scheme of sorts as it seems far too strange that people were purchasing the non-tangible essence of art, instead of an actual physical work of art. The whole concept didn’t work for me although I did – for a about minute – think I wanted ‘in’ to make a quick buck. Although I ultimately didn’t offer my artwork in this format. BUT good for those who got in and out and elevated their artist profiles online and gained expanded interest on social media.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.markgleberzon.com
• Instagram: @mjggallery