Ode to Joy

A mobile artist who lives and works in Boston, Mark Davis was drawn to the act of creating as a young boy. The discovery of Alexander Calder’s work at the age of fourteen had a deep influence on Davis’s early work, which consisted of stylized jewelry pieces, and has had a consistent presence throughout his career. In this lavishly illustrated volume, plants, animals, humans, and landscapes develop within the brightly colored and abstracted shapes that make up Davis’s body of work today. Vibrant palettes and abstracted sheets of metal are composed to create self-contained, kinetic narratives. Davis explores the three-dimensional spaces his work exists within, as well as his own internal dialogue through these kinetic scenes. Tapping into the joyful and childlike side of his audience allows Davis to convey a personal philosophy about his life: you can experience heavy and difficult challenges but eventually transform them to achieve balanced and uplifting results.

Born in New Haven, Connecticut, and educated at Goddard College in Vermont, Davis’s dexterous metalwork is entirely self-taught. In addition to moderate-scale pieces of movement, color, and grace, Davis also creates large-scale public and private commissions, including Healing Waters, an outdoor installation at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, Illinois.