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Marc Swanson’s work examines the notion of masculine identity through a variety of media ranging from film, to sculpture, installation, and painting. Reconciling queer sensibility with the ultra conservatism of rural folk arts, Swanson’s Psychic Studies approaches themes of power, spirituality and tradition through an aesthetic of heightened sensuality. Psychic Studies takes the form of a large reflective wall mount; its radial motif suggestive of a web, shield, mystical symbol, or hunting lodge fixture. Constructed from painted wood and mirrored acrylic, Swanson’s form exudes the timeless potency of artefact and the illicit allure of kitsch. Swanson's honky-tonk environment initially seemed to be at odds with his purportedly self-revelatory intent. Each tired symbol pumped up the volume of exhausted artifice. Yet on some level, the contrivance of this deliberately awful down-and-out setting, with its dime-store mannequins and cheaply realized decor--made with, among other things, glitter, sgraffitoed Plexiglas, hockey tape, hanging T-shirts, rope nets, dirt and deerskin--seemed to offer an authentic glimpse into the artist's sense of abject futility, Goth morbidity and misplaced projection of gay fabulousness.
Marc Swanson's second solo exhibition at Bellwether, "Live Free or Die," was an anthem to crushed dreams and hopes for the future. Conceived as a four-part installation comprising individual artworks fitted into a loosely autobiographical scenario, the show roughly conveyed the artist's coming to terms with his homosexuality and his politically conservative, rural New Hampshire roots. It also suggested a lapsed search for the possibility of renewal in a psychically devastated landscape.
The gallery was transformed into a walk-in tableau meant to recall a grungy meeting place or entertainment center filled with movie posters as well as absurd roadside souvenirs. The four narratives were "The Beginning of the End of the Beginning (Black Glitter Forest)," an allusion to eco-devastation; "Target the Rainbow," about finding one's way through the many conflicted paths of gayness; "Death Is Not the Worst of All Evils," the artist's self-deprecating examination of his values and life choices in contrast to his childhood's nativist values; and "Bucks," consisting of two fake mounted buck heads, entirely sequined, antlers in mid-clash, placed against a bright red-orange wall.
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