Mark Velasquez is a photographer who competed on the first season of Bravo's reality television competition, ''
Work of Art: The Next Great Artist''.
Early life
Velasquez attended and was an altar boy at St. Mary of the Assumption School and St. Louis de Montfort School. He attended
St. Joseph High School (Santa Maria, California) and
Cornish College of the Arts (
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
,
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
) where he studied drawing, sculpture and performance art. Velasquez is an
Eagle Scout
Eagle Scout is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Sc ...
and a member of the
Elks. He has worked at his family's restaurant Tom's Take-Out since he was 14 years old in a variety of roles, most notably as a fry cook. He realized his love for photography after he began photographically documenting his own performance art pieces.
Influences
While Velasquez's imagery can be alluring and often features scantily clad women, he cites
Norman Rockwell
Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of Culture of the United States, the country's culture. Roc ...
as his primary inspiration. "Rockwell used people from his small town, his friends, neighbors, children ... making art from what you have around you."
Career
Work of Art: The Next Great Artist
In August 2009 Velasquez participated in the Los Angeles, California open casting call for Bravo TV's art-themed reality television program Work of Art: The Next Great Artist. He was selected to be a contestant and competed on the program for 8 of 10 episodes until being voted off during episode 8: Opposites Attract, a Heaven and Hell-themed collaborative challenge with co-contestant
Peregrine Honig. Honig wanted to depict hell through Velasquez's abdominal scar, a visual record of his bout with
diverticulitis
Diverticulitis, specifically colonic diverticulitis, is a gastrointestinal disease characterized by inflammation of abnormal pouches—diverticula—which can develop in the wall of the large intestine. Symptoms typically include lower abdominal ...
. While Mark initially fought back, saying that he didn't feel that the scar represented hell, he eventually acquiesced. The judges found the concept "uninspiring and clichéd." Host
China Chow notably "fought back tears" while announcing the judges' decision that Velasquez would not continue.
Show & Tell
May 2010 marked the publication of ''Show & Tell'', an 80-page hard-cover book collecting Velasquez's photographs of six models who represent milestones in his early career. The book includes ruminations on his experiences and relationships with each model and how both have changed over the course of their friendships.
NSFW magazine
In November 2010 Velasquez launched ''
NSFW magazine'' with collaborator
Michael Neff. ''
NSFW'', an acronym for Not Safe For Work, is a quarterly publication. Each issue is centered on a theme and features photographs and writings by Velasquez, a column written by Hilary Underwood, and photographs of model Kacie Marie.
References
External links
markvelasquez.comOfficial website
Mark Velasquez Photography on FacebookWork of Art exit interview with ''Artinfo
''">Artinfo">Work of Art exit interview with ''Artinfo
''br>The Stranger">''The Stranger (newspaper), The Stranger
'' coverage of Mark's progress on Work of Artbr>NSFW on Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Velasquez, Mark
American photographers
Fashion photographers
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)