Marko Stout
Marko Stout is a New York City artist who utilizes an outsider post-expressionist style of the "academic visionary" movement to understand the human experience and fundamental nature in the universe.
Dr. Stout retired from medical practice in 2006 to peruse a life of physiological and metaphysical study
through nontraditional art work. He lived for a while on a houseboat in San Fransisco Bay and now currently resides in Manhattan.
In addition to degrees in medicine and biology "Marko" also holds a doctorate in metaphysics. His outsider "art brut" style provides the viewer with a spiritual experience through the brilliant twisting of human anatomy with psychological and mythical archetypes. Marko often refers to his innovative art for as "academic visionary" which is a reference to both its cognitive and spiritual nature. This movement rejects many of the current trivial trends of many current art forms art as basic uninspired corporate decoration or the products of classically trained commercial graphic artists.
Marko's careful use of vibrant color often reveals the extreme emotional states of his subjects. Such examples include the bold use of red to indicate excitement, passion, love, desire, strength, aggression, blood, violence, all things intense and passionate. Whereas the heavy use to black is applied to show power, sexuality, mystery, fear, evil, unhappiness, restlessness, remorse, anger, anonymity or loneliness and of course death or decay. Also present is the use of yellow which has been shown tostimulate the nervous system and used symbolize optimism, enlightenment or potential happiness, as well as dishonesty, cowardice, betrayal and jealousy. The color white is most often used in Marko's art to illustrate or highlight areas of coldness, clinical sterility, reverence, purity, conflict resolution or even just simplicity.
Marko Stout's work has a mature complexity that incorporates the viewer into the art experience as they examine the many rich layers of the work, they too become part of the art as they are forced into interpretation and contemplate the nature of these extraordinary pieces.
"The Cave"
The Cave is a scenario in which people take to be real that which in fact is an illusion. In this case Dr. Stout uses"The Cave" as a metaphor for our thought and sensory limitations, as our human experience is limited by our imprisonment within a physical body, we therefore attempt to understand the nature of the universe through myth, religions and scientific methodology in an impossible attempt to understand the universe.
Understanding "The Cave": You should imagine a cave inhabited by prisoners who have been chained and held immobile since birth, compelled to gaze only at a wall in front of them. Behind the prisoners is an enormous fire, between the fire and the prisoners is a raised walkway along which people walk carrying things on their heads including figures of men and animals made of wood, stone and other materials. The prisoners watch the shadows cast by their jailers not knowing they are just shadows. There are also echoes off the wall from the noise produced from the walkway.
The prisoners would take the shadows to be real things and the echoes to be real sounds, unaware they are just the reflections of reality since this is all they had ever seen or heard. They would praise as clever the prisoner who could best guess which shadow would come next as someone who understood the nature of the world and the whole of their society would depend on the shadows on the wall.
Marko's prisoners remain in "The Cave" seeking impossible enlightenment through false perceptions, shared archetypes and myths. Whereas the jailers are unable to experience the collective human condition of their prisoners.
Art work of Marko Stout
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