BYU Studio Art Alumni Mark England and Marissa Albrecht Show at Salt Lake City Arts Council’s Finch Lane Gallery
As one walked into the Finch Lane Gallery in Salt Lake this summer, they would be greeted by a bright abundance of familiar landscapes made new by BYU art alum Mark England’s exhibition, “Landscapes: Perception and Time.”
In a second room of gallery space, was “En Route,” Marissa Albrecht, also a BYU art alum, displaying her exploration of moving through time and space with photographs, repurposed packaging and actual street signs. Though both exhibitions clearly explored time and place with a sense of abundance, they were formally distinct neighbors.
Since graduating with his MFA from BYU in 1989, England has delved deeper into the world of painting. He believes self-guided study is necessary to keep growing as an artist. “My general advice to any aspiring young artist is to just keep copying the masters,” he said.
A surreal sense of eclecticism and abundance has characterized England’s work for years, but the new bright color palettes and portraits are formal developments giving voice to familiar places.
“I have gotten brighter,” England said. “For many years I kept a very subdued palette. I just wanted to deal with the intellectual, non-emotional aspect.” He said his use of color was also inspired by studying painters such as Wayne Thiebaud and Howard Hodgkin.
England’s paintings are surreal re-creations of Utah, landmarks of Christianity and thematic takes on the state and country. The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was the subject of several paintings in the Finch show. He said, “This is the most dramatic moment in history. It is in this moment that Eve sees all of the implications of choosing this particular fruit, all of the good and evil, pain, sorrow, joy —everything that comes from this one decision.” In about half a dozen paintings, he depicted Eve by the Tree of Knowledge at her time of contemplation about her options in moving forward in God’s plan.
His paintings such as “State of Deseret” and “Promised Land,” at Finch Lane and Springville Museum of Art have depicted other landscapes requiring imaginative leaps to depict iconic places. Yet other paintings have taken literal, known places in Utah and rendered them in a surreal way.
“I like to build a space and make it visually interesting,” England said. “I want to incorporate everything. I want to incorporate religion, history, landscape, portraits and still life.”
Marisa Albrecht’s neighboring gallery space also depicted abundance but through the grounded realism of photographs, traffic signs and postage scraps. Many of the images were used as metaphors. Collages represented people intersecting in their personal journeys; discarded priority postage represented the fleeting nature of a sense of urgency.
Albrecht graduated from BYU with an MFA in Studio Art in 2020 and now teaches art at BYU and UVU along with showing her work in Utah County galleries. She said learning about others' personal goals for showcasing their work inspired her to set similar goals.
“Critiques, peer discussions, and studio visits played a major role in my education at BYU. Observing others actively engaged in their studios motivated me to take myself more seriously as an artist,” Albrecht said.
She said the BYU Department of Art is a “highly supportive environment, where individuals compete with themselves, and peers and professors offer constant encouragement.” As far as how she hopes to guide students, she said “When I was a student, I had a hard time calling myself an ‘Artist’ even though art consumed my whole life. I felt like I needed to accomplish something big before taking on that title. My advice for students in art related majors is to start calling yourself what you love to do: Dancer, Film Maker, Illustrator, Violist, Photographer, Writer, Actor, Printmaker, Vocalist, etc.”
Art patrons such as Victoria Schiodtz traveled from Utah County to see Albrecht’s exhibition.
“I like to see the reality in her work and how she works with found objects and materials that most would consider trash,” said Schiodtz, who is also a mixed media visual artist. “When you step away from tradition you have to make sure it looks very intentional so that spectators do not think you are just stumbling upon things. I feel an order, a neatness, within everything she does. It feels intentional. If I were an alien and did not know these objects’ and materials’ origin, I would look at her canvas and think she created every part from scratch.”