Imagination in the rain, tagged silhouettes run in rivulets down the canvas, coursing through gravel and wood. This is the art of Mark Acetelli. An LA based painter, Acetelli has poured his love, angst, and hope into his work, creating translucent contours on a base of hardened chaos. If colors could cry, they would weep umbers and ivories in the shadows in an attempt to create such imagery.

Acetelli calls his work “soul painting,” and paints mainly in contrasts and organic tones. “I believe I find more expression in a darker palette as far as my emotions are concerned and what I am representing -- my guts and my feelings on canvas,” Acetelli says. He is affected by the work of Robert Rauschenberg and Basquiat, and incorporates textures into his paintings. “These painters influenced me to start pushing things into the paint, like found objects from the ground, bits of stone, wood, grass, gravel, kitty litter, coffee grounds.”

“You can be a decorative artist and make a great living, but you are not going to be changing the world.” Using his work as a therapy session, he reaches into the crevasses of his creative soul. He wants people to be moved by what they see, to love or hate it, but most of all to remember it. That’s what he believes real art is. He strives to makes the viewer think about something they hadn’t thought about, or move them in a certain way.

The Method
He starts with a blank canvas that he builds up over time, taking about a week or two to add texture that gives the base a life of its own, a sculpture on canvas. He will build up the surface and tear it back down, build it up and tear it down, to get layers upon layers and the effect that he’s looking for. “Sometimes you are just at the will of the gods, a conduit, you’re just doing it till you find something, until it starts to take form. That’s when you can control it.”

Sometimes the canvas itself will reveal the direction it wants to go, or Acetelli will find his inspiration from magazines and newspapers. The final results might not even look like the source, but it will be a place to start. Sometimes he has a crystal clear idea of his direction, but it ends up being totally different than what he anticipated. As an artist, he sees everything, and is always looking for new things to inspire him.

He rarely uses brushes, but instead uses rags, spray bottles, toothbrushes, toothpicks, a palette knife. “I’m not a typical painter with a brush. I rub the paint in with the rags, working paint into the canvas using a method of spraying and dripping, similar to maybe what (Jackson) Pollack would do.” He will then minimally use a brush to define a figure or silhouette.

Acetelli says he is always striving to change and grow. “If you don’t get inspired through other artists, you are going to stay in the same mold. Worst thing a painter can do is copy himself; it’s better to copy somebody else. When you start to copy yourself, you're cranking out the same thing, the same style, and it gets boring. I’ll do a series of maybe 4 or 5 paintings and then I'm on to the next.” He feels the challenge is to create something fresh and different, but in the same vein technique-wise, how he applies and manipulates the paint and achieves the texture and the imagery. He believes art requires diligence and editing. If he does a painting too similar to one he’s already done, he will destroy it. He tries to keep the people interested in what he is doing year to year, and feels that this is part of the evolution.

The Exposure
Acetelli also focuses strongly on marketing. He’s built a website and designed business cards. And he believes word of mouth is an important part of marketing. Of course, the best place to get exposure is in the galleries. “I would pound the

pavement, show them my work, build a relationship of respect. One gallery I courted for many years before I was accepted. They might like your work but might not take you for some time. They need to see your work is getting stronger.” He feels it’s persistence and confidence that gets you through the door, not getting discouraged when you get a rejection, and that it is fruitful to give the galleries a call a few times a year.

He also offers his paintings to charity auctions. “It helps me to get a lot of recognition and it’s for a great cause.” Acetelli has raised thousands of dollars for charities and generated a tremendous amount of exposure for himself. “It’s just a matter of who you associate with. I started out in a coffee house and I knew that is not where I wanted to be in two or three years.”

In just five years he has improved his profile substantially. His first painting sold for $300 -- his work now sells for up to $6000. “I would sell to people that I knew had money. I would donate my paintings to million dollar charities that had million dollar patrons. I wouldn’t just go to the coffee shop and hang my work there for a guy who had $10 in his pocket. I knew I could reach a certain level faster if the people I surrounded myself with were

affluent. You want to get into a circle of people that can drop $6000 at the blink of an eye and not think about it.”

He was first inspired to paint when he saw the movie “Basquiat”. Early in his career, Claire Forlani, who played Basquiat’s girlfriend, entered a studio and bought one of Acetelli’s paintings on the spot. “If it wasn’t for that movie, she wouldn’t have that painting now”. Other collectors of his work are Jeff Franklyn, creator of “Full House,” Jack Permter, VP of CBS LA, and Tom Shadyac, Universal Studios producer for Jim Carey’s movies. Acetelli’s work is in collections with Ratheyon Corporation, American Heart Association, and Universal Studios. One of his most recent sales was to Michael Jordan’s wife who purchased “Walking Blues” at the Hollrod Charity event to help fight Parkinson's Disease. Acetelli works on commission and shows his work at the Soho Gallery in Studio City and the 2nd Street Gallery in Brentwood.

He believes his work is worth every penny and more, and plans to expand to include all of America and Europe. “When I am dead and gone, people will decide. I am just doing what I am doing. It’s not made for the masses; it’s made for me. And if other people like it, great. And luckily they do, knock on wood.”

Related Links:

http://www.acetelliarts.com/

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