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MARK NADER
CRYSTALLINE CANDY CLOUDS

8 JULY - 14 AUGUST 2022

A brightly coloured painting in the storybook style. In the background, a soft pink-hued sunset sky encompasses a fairy-tale-like oast house standing on a hill among lushly green grasses and trees. In the foreground, comprising more than two-thirds of the painting, a group of humans is visible standing on colourful Mexican traditional Zapotec rugs. Full of bright folk patterns, some of them depict axolotls – the national animals of Mexico. The characters are clearly divided across class lines, symbolized by their costumes: the group on the left wearing simple servant’s livery, the group on the right – richly ornamented pearly king and queen’s suits and Mexican folk dresses. The class division is also magnified by replacing the depicted characters’ heads with confectionery – the servants being represented by simple confections like pink waffle bars and custard creams, while the upper classes are associated with the more sophisticated Iced Party Rings and Mr Kipling apple pies.
OAST PARTY (2022)

Oil paint on canvas
135 x 120 cm (53.1 x 47.2 in)
Unique
Earthy forest aromas call to me, perhaps because they are piney and pungent like smoked chilli. Following the direction of the spicy scent, I spot a building with circular turrets, could it be an Oast house drying hops… hop, step, hop. Given a ribbon and we start dancing – step-hop-step-hop-step-hop-step-hop. Strong beats bellow through the air, I hear hornpipes and my feet are automatically stomping out the rhythm. Panic edges up my throbbing body, as I cannot stop the movement. Stuck in a merry-go-round, while yearning to reach the palms, tree ferns and meadow of sunflowers in the distance. Fast and getting faster, spiralling and spinning; my body is being woven in amidst the ribbons. Trapped, I tumble to the floor…
Nauseous and through blurred vision, I glance up towards a series of cake heads looking down at me – I cannot tell whether with concern or menace? I push myself up from a soft carpeted floor, reaching towards the Pink Wafer. Arm outstretched aimlessly, as the crowd withdraws at the sight of my hand coated in cyan paint. Pearly Queens thrust napkins and paper plates towards me, and usher me to a picnic table. Opposite is a Mr Kipling Apple Pie, which seems to have taken a fancy. Brazenly leaning in, our faces meld together… pulling away I take some of the Kipling with me. Sweet pastry still in my mouth, I blurt out with chunks of apple, ‘that was an exceedingly good kiss’.
While digesting my new lover, I am pulled out of the revelry by an inebriated Cactus. He is stumbling about and pricking lots of people, whose crumbs rub off on him. A flustered Scone, with cream dripping off them due to the heat of the day, turns around abruptly and is knocked by the unsuspecting and uncoordinated Cactus. Strawberries escape from the Scone and topple to the ground, which the Cactus clumsily falls on and squashes. Heckling from the sidelines, Iced Party Ring shouts, ‘Food fight!’ while all eyes/icing are on the Scone. Who turns scarlet, lunging towards a cowering Cactus that is backing away but still manages to spit out, “This is not costing me a house you numpty, it’s the only bit of hope I have.”

INSTALLATION VIEW

Photo by Lindsay Friend

A detailed view of a glazed stoneware sculpture depicting a viscerally pink glazed donut crowning a vaguely humanoid corpus. The donut ‘head’ is decorated in multicoloured ‘hundreds and thousands’ sugar sprinkles. The corpus appears to be halfway between a humanoid creature with its arms crossed and a mossy brown stone (or, alternately, a mouldy pretzel). The posture gives it a slightly stubborn character, as if it was confronting the viewer in defiance. Its body is partially overgrown with creeping vines and dark green foliage, as if the creature has grown into its landscape, giving an impression of antiquity. In front of the entity, a stone altar-like structure is present, abound with Mexican foods like conchas, avocados and plantain slices. This gives the work a humoristically sacral tone by framing the entity as a grumpy sacrifice-demanding god.
DONUT HEAD (2022)

Glazed stoneware
45 x 28 x 24 cm (17.7 x 11 x 9.44 in)
Unique

INSTALLATION VIEW

Photo by Lindsay Friend

TEA, CAKE AND ANACHRONISM (2022)

Oil paint on canvas
150 x 135 cm (59 x 53.1 in)
Unique
Selected solo exhibitions: Pain, Pan, 面包, Pão, Habitat Gallery, Shanghai, China (2021) and Rubber People, Tong Gallery, 798, Beijing, China (2018). Selected group exhibitions: 021, Shanghai, China (2018) and All the beauties of the world, Nova Galerie, Prague, Czech Republic (2017). Mark Nader’s work has also been published in the book, 100 Painters of Tomorrow by K. Beers and G. Muir (2014) published by Thames and Hudson. Mark is from a Mexican and British background with a BA in Fine Art from Central St Martins, University of the Arts London (2008). He currently lives and works in London.