WebinART: Flights of Joy: New Creations by Mark Davis

Virtual event hosted by Pucker Gallery.

Join us 10 November at 3:30pm for a conversation with Pucker Gallery artist Mark Davis, Tony Fusco of Fusco & Four, Brattleboro Museum Curator Emerita, Mara Williams, and Gallery Director Bernard Pucker.

This event will be an opportunity to hear from Mark Davis regarding his handmade mobiles with input from panelists. Over the past 27 years that the gallery has exhibited his work, Mark has delivered, time and time again, beautiful and poetic works of art. The newest collection continues to amaze and delight as his personal artistic journey progresses and expands. The exhibition Flights of Joy: New Creations by Mark Davis will be on view at Pucker Gallery from 15 October through 27 November 2022.

Mark Davis was born in New Haven, CT in 1954 and educated at Goddard College in Vermont. He began making jewelry in his teens and his dexterous metalwork is entirely self-taught. His initial forays into mobiles utilized the metals of his jewelry making: sterling silver, gold plating, and brass. The variety of styles and materials that Davis uses to build his mobiles has expanded dramatically over the years to create a complex and compelling body of work. In addition to moderate scale pieces of movement, with newfound color and grace, Davis also creates large scale public and private commission pieces. His works have been exhibited by Pucker Gallery since 1995 and are included in numerous private and public collections including: Andover Memorial Library, Andover, MA: the University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital; the Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA; the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago; New England College, Henniker, NH; and the Rose Museum at Brandeis University in Waltham, MA.

Tony Fusco is Director of Fusco & Four, a marketing and public relations agency specializing in the arts, co-founded by Robert Four in 1979.  Since 1996, Fusco & Four also produced large-scale public art and design events such as the Boston International Fine Art Show and Boston Design Week.  He is the author of five books on Art Deco and vintage posters, and his by-line has appeared in over 50 periodicals including publications such as Boston Magazine, Yankee Magazine and others. He has served as a U.S. State Department escort-interpreter and has been a member of the American Federation of Radio and Television Actors (A.F.T.R.A.) and the Screen Actors Guild (S.A.G.) (Now SAG-AFTRA), since 1974. He was Facilitator for the International Coalition of Art Deco Societies (ICADS) for seven years and was an organizer for numerous World Congress on Art Deco events in the U.S. and abroad. Currently, as Co-producer of Boston Design Week, he serves as a member of World Design Weeks, an international coalition of design weeks and festivals worldwide. 

Mara Williams has been curating exhibits at Brattleboro Museum & Art Center for thirty years. Her area of expertise is modern and contemporary art. Recent solo exhibitions include: Gathering Light: The Art of Stephen Hannock, Wolf Kahn—Landscape of Light; Secrets by Gloria Garfinkel; Andy Warhol—Selections from the Jon Gould Collection. Group shows have included the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Janet Fish, Mary Frank, Keith Haring, David Hockney, Maya Lin, James McGarrell, David Nash, Robert Rauschenberg, Ursula von Ridingsvard, Michael Singer, Tseng Kwong Chi, and Barbara Zucker, as well as a host of regional and emerging talent.

As a partner in Arts Bridge LLC, Williams leads exhibition teams for institutions developing new large-scale museum projects. She led a team at Norwich University to conceive and build the inaugural exhibits and media productions at the Sullivan Museum & History Center; she was the exhibition developer and project manager for the Vermont Historical Society's interactive exhibit and film, Freedom & Unity: One Ideal, Many Stories; she developed Bravo! A Century of Theatre in Fairfield County; and a number of exhibits for the Vermont Folklife Center.

She holds an A.B. in theatre from Boston College; an MFA in museology from Syracuse University and has completed doctoral course work and passed comprehensives in comparative arts at New York University. She has served as chair of the Vermont Arts Council and as a board member of the New England Museum Association. She is currently serving her third term on the Senate Curatorial Advisory Committee for the U.S. Capitol.

Bernard Pucker is the director of Pucker Gallery, which he founded with his wife, Sue, on Newbury Street in Boston in 1967. Pucker Gallery represents over fifty artists from around the world, presenting ­­­ approximately ten exhibitions annually, often paired with artist talks, virtual “WebinArts,” and other public events.

Bernie is currently a Board Member at the Japan Society, Boston, and the Jewish Publication Society. He also serves on the Leadership Council for Facing History and Ourselves, as well as the Artistic Advisory Board for the Terezin Music Foundation. Previously, he served as President of Solomon Schechter Day School; President of the Newbury Street League; and a Board Member for the Friends of Copley Square and The Unity Project, among others.

Bernie received his MA in Modern Jewish History from Brandeis University and his BA in History and English Literature from Columbia College.