CURRENT EXHIBITS:

Under the Big Black Sun:
California Art 1974 - 1981
Geffen Contemporary,
MOCA Los Angeles.
Oct. 1, 2011 - Feb. 13, 2012.
Vallen's work included in this survey of California artists during an extraordinary period of American history. Also a part of the Getty's Pacific Standard Time project.

ADELANTE:
Mexican American Artists
from the 1960s and Beyond
Forest Lawn Museum, Glendale, California.
Sept. 8, 2011 - Jan. 1, 2012.
Mark Vallen will present a pair of oil paintings created specifically for this exhibition of Los Angeles Chicano Art. On display will be his "Libros No Bombas" (Books Not Bombs - shown at left as a work in progress), and "La Causa" (The Cause). Read more here.

PEACE PRESS
GRAPHICS 1967-1987:
Art in the Pursuit of
Social Change
University Art Museum,
California State University Long Beach. Sept. 10, 2011 - Dec. 11, 2011.
Vallen exhibits historic antiwar graphics in this group survey of posters and flyers produced by Peace Press, a progressive print shop active in Southern California from the 1960s to the 80s. The show is part of the Getty Foundation's Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945 - 1980, the largest collaborative art project in Southern California history. Read more here.
Linoleum Print by Mark Vallen

Left: "Pat Bag" - Mark Vallen. Linoleum print.

In early 1979 I carved a linoleum block portrait of Pat Bag, the enchantingly sinister-looking bass player for The Bags, one of the first and most notorious late 70s punk rock bands in Los Angeles.

At their earliest performances band members wore bags over their heads, and each was assured anonymity by taking "Bag" as a last name. It was in '79 that the band posed for me; soon after Pat left the group and began performing under her own name, Patricia Morrison.

Read more about
this print here.
"Freedom." Digital artwork by Mark Vallen

FREEDOM
8.5 X 11 inch full color poster
Published in Arabic, Spanish, and English
A downloadable digital artwork calling for democracy in Egypt

Along with people all over the world, I have been profoundly inspired by the heroic Egyptian people's struggle for democracy against the 30-year old U.S. backed dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak. As an expression of solidarity I created a digital artwork titled "Freedom," so named because the word appears in my graphic in Arabic, Spanish, and English; my creation is dedicated to the people of Egypt, with hopes that their democratic aspirations will soon be realized.

I have published my artwork as a flyer-sized broadside meant to be distributed internationally. I invite one and all to download and print a free copy of my 8.5 x 11 inch full color artwork, which I hope will be used to advance the people's movement for true freedom and democracy. Please disseminate this artwork widely in the "not for profit" spirit in which it is offered.

You can download a copy of my poster here (a .PDF file at 350 dpi resolution).

I released my artwork on February 10, 2011, the very day Mubarak announced his refusal to resign. The hundreds of thousands of Egyptians gathered in Cairo's Liberation Square reacted to Mubarak's pronouncement with furious chants of "The people demand the fall of the regime!" Just prior to the dictator's address, President Obama declared that "America will continue to do everything that we can to support an orderly and genuine transition to democracy in Egypt." Clearly, it is time for President Obama to cut all U.S. military aid to the criminal Mubarak cabal.

My initial intention was to create my artwork as an oil painting on canvas, but this traditional way of working is laborious and slow, whereas events in Egypt have been moving at breakneck speed. I decided on producing a drawing using Photoshop with a digital drawing tablet equipped with a pressure sensitive pen. This allowed me to work quickly, and the software combination allowed me to replicate the look of actual brushes loaded with paint.
www.art-for-a-change.com is owned and operated by Mark Vallen © All artworks by Mark Vallen.