Marcus McAllister, a Little Rock-born artist who has lived in Paris for more than two decades, is a man of seemingly unbounded energy and enthusiasm.
At the opening of a show of new work at Gallery 26 last month, he engaged collectors, friends and newcomers alike with a palpable warmth that filled the room, often punctuating conversation with laughter.
An attentive and focused listener, one can even hear a sense of wonder come into McAllister's voice, which is reflected in his face and his spiritually-imbued new paintings and pages from his ongoing series of sketchbooks. The sketchbook pages are especially revealing, with their in-the-moment snapshots of the artist's thoughts, his daily life or appointments written alongside images that usually have no relationship to what is written.
For Little Rock artist Diane Page Harper, McAllister also is a valued consultant who critiques her artwork via Skype and, during this late January visit, at her studio.
"Marcus does not impose his own views on the artists he mentors," Harper says. "He helped me find my own voice and to be confident in making that voice be heard. When I want to go into safe-mode and make work that really doesn't resonate with me, he gently brings me back to myself. It absolutely has made my work more thrilling for me. With a combination of introspection and experimentation, the work that flows out of me flows out with meaning. It's the best money I've spent."
McAllister started showing work at Gallery 26 some 25 years ago, says gallery owner Renee Williams.
"He came in to frame some of his art and we hit it off right away," she says. "I liked him and his art immediately. I was drawn into his art for its mystical quality, the layers of different meanings and symbols."
McAllister, 51, also has a few artworks at M2 Gallery in the current multi-artist "M2SP: Self Portrait" show, also taken from his sketchbooks.
"The thing that drew me into Marcus' work was his sketchbook pages," says Mac Murphy of M2. "I love the fact that it's very personal to him, that every piece of art that's in the sketchbook pages is carried with him throughout his life. That this is actually his life that you have an image of, a little snapshot of that period of time, is amazing to me."
Since we caught McAllister as he was nearing the end of his visit with his family and friends, most of this interview was conducted via email and Skype.
Q: How do you describe your art?
A: Contemporary alchemy through "dreambelly" symbolism. Threads and stories I pull on to see where they might lead me.
Q: What mediums do you work in?
A: My sketchbooks are mixed water media: watercolor, gouache, ink and crayon. In the studio, I paint in acrylic and draw with pastels. I think about returning to oils and I'd like to try encaustic someday.
Q: Does the Gallery 26 show signal a change in direction?
A: It is a deepening of a thread I've worked on over time. The past couple of years I've been researching a couple of ideas, one being this idea of hiding a bit of the face or the eyes behind shapes and symbols with these explosions of dots of light (which I can trace back through some nebulae, mandalas and spirograph images) to express desire that one projects onto the desired, the glamour that cloaks the object, crystallization and attraction, but also being dazzled or caught by interfering beliefs. The other thread I've been working on has been a series of man/animal superpositions that is about protection and guidance.
Q: You write on many of the sketchbook pages.
A: The writing is note-taking -- of daily life, of stuff I read, of dreams and of current obsessions and research, as well as shopping lists, appointments and reminders. Everything goes on the current, which creates links and meanings. Sometimes words fall on a page with a certain image, or an image falls onto a certain text, and later one will bring the other onto a new page of painting. So it is about coding memories and finding, creating meanings. The texts can be brainstorming about images, but almost never just descriptions/labels of the image they are included in.
Q: What is Carl Jung's influence?
A: His ideas have been very important for me -- archetypes, symbols, mandalas. Also a lot of his ideas on the shadow and the persona, extraversion/introversion, intuition, thinking/feeling. I think his ideas have structured quite a bit of my work and life, and they have been an excellent source of energy.
Q: What inspires you?
A: Stories -- mine or others -- I love to hear other people's stories ... also, those in literature and the visual stories in paintings.
Q: What have you learned from these stories?
A: I've learned how much we are all crazy, flawed, fragile beings trying to move forward. Everyone has their own point of view, desires, hopes and fears, and their own reasons for all that, whether or not I agree with them. That has helped me see myself more clearly, by comparing and contrasting. It doesn't matter whether the contact is positive or negative, it's always more information to digest.
It's also really easy to talk about the influence of my parents: they always said when I was growing up that they wanted me to be happy and independent. So I grew up feeling loved and encouraged. They also taught me to work and to keep striving, and my dad has always modeled service to others.
Q: What is the biggest lesson you've learned?
A: Everything changes and that is a good thing. Learning about impermanence has been important. So many surprises in life, good and bad. So much loss. So much joy. It's all part of the story. Nothing is set in stone, and all we can do is shore things up as we can, and appreciate what we have. When you have a moment where everything is all right, perfect, in its place with no trouble -- that is just a moment of grace, and you better take advantage of it for a deep breath because it will not last. I have found that to be incredibly liberating and deeply optimistic. Accepting that life is necessarily, fundamentally struggle and strife means you get to look forward to those moments of grace!
The other freedom that I've learned is the freedom that comes with learning to say no. Without that it is impossible to truly say yes. Part of that comes from accepting the refusals that life imposes. The other part of that is clearly discerning my true hopes, fears, needs and desires (and distinguishing among the four!). When I can articulate them to myself and to others, I am truly able to choose. And particularly in relation to other people -- friends, partners, lovers, family, acquaintances -- being able to say clearly, no that is not me, no I do not want that, no I can't follow there -- this is what allows me to say yes, to be in phase with myself and others, to find the richer common ground that is not compromised by false promises and appearances.
Q: What was the best advice you have been given?
A: Keep going forward.
Q: What did moving to New York, then Paris, teach you?
A: How to adapt, how to find my way, how to build connections, learning new lifestyles, new language, new codes. A lot of hard things seem easy after the fact and learning that helps fight fear and anxiety. Courage can be cultivated and is a very useful trait. Also, nothing is perfect and it isn't supposed to be. And it is much more fun like that.
Q: When did you start carrying sketchbooks?
A: I started the sketchbooks in college when professors required students to keep one for class. Right away my sketchbook rules fell into place -- always keep it with me, not work on older pages, just turn the page and continue moving forward. They are a source of play and inspiration, they help me make sense and organize and remember. Creating my own structure has always been essential for my creativity. I am currently on Sketchbook 118; for a long time now I have done five sketchbooks per year.
When I'm back in the U.S. for a few weeks, I'm out of the studio, but the sketchbook lets me keep scratching away at my thoughts, obsessions and interests. At other moments when the energy is down -- breakups, grief, worries about money or the future -- can drain energy. Or when too many expos and parties and fun are stringing me out and distracting my energies, the sketchbook keeps me connected to my artwork.
Q: Did you have an art teacher who was particularly important?
A: Michael Crespo at Louisiana State University. I had him for my first painting class, a watercolor class. I remember then meeting his artist wife, Libby Johnson, at an art opening, and a real friendship developed. They stayed in touch; Michael was a friend and mentor until his death a few years ago.
Q: Why LSU?
A: I did one year at Notre Dame (in architecture), but the expenses led me to change schools. My younger sister was starting at LSU so that just sort of happened. Turned out to be a great choice. I loved having the experience of a sheltered cocoon sort of campus at Notre Dame, but the larger, crazier state university in Baton Rouge turned out to be essential for me. I ended up declaring residency and becoming independent, which led me eventually to a BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts) degree in painting and drawing despite my parents' fears. They've always been supportive although sometimes leery of my choices.
Q: When do you know you're finished with a piece?
A: When the surface sings. With the sketchbook, a page opens when I place the first mark or word, and then it just fills up. Sometimes it's like a scar or like ice forming over an open hole. When it closes up, I turn the page. For drawings and paintings, I work until the tension is right and then look some more, maybe come back a bit later, let it sit until the work tells me where it wants to go.
Q: You are, in a sense, living a dream many artists have about Paris.
A: I've just followed my desire, listened to what my gut tells me and see what I can do to go towards that. The first time I visited Paris, it felt like home. That impression turned out to be true. There have been moments of questioning and looking at where I am (not always necessarily where I expected to be or after surprising changes), but I end up owning my choices even when things haven't turned out as expected or hoped for. Life does that, so I try to roll with the punches.
Q: What jobs did you have before you were making art full time?
A: In New York, a waiter in a cafe. Then office manager in a software company and intern at the Center for Book Arts. In Paris, English instructor, assistant accountant, interview transcriptions and gofer at a production company. I've done sooooo many other odd jobs -- graphic design, bank cashier, fast food, janitor, clay facial reconstructions in a forensics lab. But all of it was good, always more skills to learn, and great stories to tell. The jobs were a means to an end -- to pay rent and survive so I could keep doing art.
Q: You moved to NYC in 1992 without telling your parents. Why?
A: I needed to be there, to take on that energy, to live it all. Three days after returning home (from visiting friends after college), I packed a suitcase of clothes, another of art supplies, cleared out my bank account ( I think I had $200) and grabbed my sketchbook. I went to the airport, walked up to the first desk and booked the next flight to NYC. One-way. On my credit card. I just knew I needed to leap. I remember reading on the airplane, and this tremor would periodically start in my feet and move up my body until I would shake too much to read. I then I would take a deep breath. It was a moment outside of my life, no one -- friend or family -- knew where I was.
My instinct (I realized after the fact) was that if I had said a word to anyone, they would have appealed to my voice of reason: get a job there first, save money, prepare the move, be smart about it. I just needed to go. This was really brutal for my parents, and they still don't like to talk about that moment. I called them as soon as I landed in NYC. They were great, even while hating the way I had done things, they tried to understand and were very supportive.
Q: Which artists inspire you today?
A: Instagram is great for that. Recently I've been looking at Peter Doig, Kyle Staver, Maxfield Parrish, Gustave Moreau.
Q: What inspires your embrace of spiritual elements?
A: I'm trying to discover my stories. Spiritualities and esoterisms are languages that energize me. Everything is metaphor. Life is a quest for meaning. I like finding answers that open to new questions. I try to discern the links between different elements, draw the lines between them and then project meaning on these found constellations.
This certainly comes from my Catholic roots, my love of fairy tales and fantasy, my reading of Jungian psychology and my rich dream life. The spirituality has always seemed to be present.
Style on 02/23/2020