Mark LaRiviere, Young Man , 8” x 6” x 7” plus base, Bronze

Mark LaRiviere, Crisis
March 12 – April 11, 2026
Opening Reception: March 12, 6:00 – 8:00 PM

As a student of painting and sculpture at lauded institutions such as The New York Studio School and Parsons School of Design, Mark LaRiviere began developing a signature style, that while seemingly modern, belied European figurative traditions firmly rooted in direct perceptual strategies coupled with a craftsman-like reverence for process. Eventually focusing solely on sculpture, this approach allowed for accomplished works that were broadly exhibited and well received over a thirty-year period.

Then something changed; no longer did the solid training and painstaking studio processes result in accomplished works celebrating individual character and sheer physicality. Instead, LaRiviere’s work, presented as multi-figure ensembles, offered impasto surfaces, performance art postures, and deeply emotive expressions signally a shift away from naturalism to a liminal ideation of archetype, and a deep dive into mortal human condition.

Not all artists of merit arrive at a late or mature phase that breaks from their signature style but those that have present striking parallels that cut across genres, styles and centuries: said artists describe epiphanic pivots, brought on by outside events or internal conflicts that foreground the tragedy of mortality.

LaRiviere notes, “I was experiencing a lot of fear when the pandemic hit New York City in 2020 and like many I fled –fortunate to own a second home in upstate NY. My working process prior to the pandemic (and the move upstate) had been largely spontaneous and focusing on single works that implied individuality and isolate beings. The new work was much more intentional and pre-planned. I wanted to arrive at an expression of humanness but was at a loss as to how to do that—so I began to experiment with different materials.”

Unforeseen calamity, and our collective response to it, gives rise to decisive moments and turning points foreshadowing outcomes – be that survival or death. The emotive charge emanating from LaRiviere’s figures situates them as climatic arrivistes, dangerously unstable and yet to set upon a course of action.