Mark Velasquez is a photographer who competed on the first season of Bravo's reality television competition, '' Work of Art: The Next Great Artist''.

Early life

Velasquez attended and was an altar boy at St. Mary of the Assumption School and St. Louis de Montfort School. He attended

St. Joseph High School (Santa Maria, California) St. Joseph High School (SJHS) is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Santa Maria, California. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles. History St. Joseph High School opened in 1964 and graduated its first class in 196 ...

and

Cornish College of the Arts Cornish College of the Arts (CCA) was a Private college, private art school, art college in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1914 by music teacher Nellie Cornish. The college's main campus is in the Denny Triangle, Seattle, Denny Triangle ...

(

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

) where he studied drawing, sculpture and performance art. Velasquez is an

Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of Scouting America. Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Scout rank has been earned by over ...

and a member of the

Elks The Embeddable Linux Kernel Subset (ELKS), formerly known as Linux-8086, is a Linux-like operating system kernel. It is a subset of the Linux kernel, intended for 16-bit computers with limited processor and memory resources such as machines pow ...

. He has worked at his family's restaurant Tom's Take-Out since he was 14 years old in a variety of roles, most notably as a fry cook. He realized his love for photography after he began photographically documenting his own performance art pieces.

Influences

While Velasquez's imagery can be alluring and often features scantily clad women, he cites

Norman Rockwell Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of Culture of the United States, the country's culture. Roc ...

as his primary inspiration. "Rockwell used people from his small town, his friends, neighbors, children ... making art from what you have around you."

Career

Work of Art: The Next Great Artist

In August 2009 Velasquez participated in the Los Angeles, California open casting call for Bravo TV's art-themed reality television program Work of Art: The Next Great Artist. He was selected to be a contestant and competed on the program for 8 of 10 episodes until being voted off during episode 8: Opposites Attract, a Heaven and Hell-themed collaborative challenge with co-contestant

Peregrine Honig Peregrine Honig is an American artist. Honig's work is concerned with the relationship between popular culture, pop culture, sexual vulnerability, Social anxiety, social anxieties, the ethics of luxury, and trends in consumerism. Early life and ...

. Honig wanted to depict hell through Velasquez's abdominal scar, a visual record of his bout with

diverticulitis Diverticulitis, also called colonic diverticulitis, is a gastrointestinal disease characterized by inflammation of abnormal pouches—Diverticulum, diverticula—that can develop in the wall of the large intestine. Symptoms typically include lo ...

. While Mark initially fought back, saying that he didn't feel that the scar represented hell, he eventually acquiesced. The judges found the concept "uninspiring and clichéd." Host

China Chow China Eiko Chow (born 15 April 1974) is a British-born American actress and model. Early life and education Chow was born in London to restaurateur Michael Chow and his wife, model/designer Tina Chow (). Her paternal grandfather was the Pek ...

notably "fought back tears" while announcing the judges' decision that Velasquez would not continue.

Show & Tell

May 2010 marked the publication of ''Show & Tell'', an 80-page hard-cover book collecting Velasquez's photographs of six models who represent milestones in his early career. The book includes ruminations on his experiences and relationships with each model and how both have changed over the course of their friendships.

NSFW magazine

In November 2010 Velasquez launched ''

NSFW magazine Mark Velasquez is a photographer who competed on the first season of Bravo's reality television competition, '' Work of Art: The Next Great Artist''. Early life Velasquez attended and was an altar boy at St. Mary of the Assumption School and St. ...

'' with collaborator

Michael Neff Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

. ''

NSFW Not safe for work, also called not suitable for work (NSFW), is Internet slang or shorthand used to mark links to content, videos, or website pages the viewer may not wish to be seen viewing in a public, formal, or controlled environment. The ...

'', an acronym for Not Safe For Work, is a quarterly publication. Each issue is centered on a theme and features photographs and writings by Velasquez, a column written by Hilary Underwood, and photographs of model Kacie Marie.

References

External links

markvelasquez.com
Official website
Mark Velasquez Photography on FacebookWork of Art exit interview
with ''

Artinfo Louise Blouin Media was an art magazine and book publishing company based in New York City. Founded by Louise Blouin,. Archived March 18, 2006. it published the magazines ''Art+Auction'', ''Gallery Guide'' and ''Modern Painters'' until 2020. It ...

''
''The Stranger'' coverage of Mark's progress on Work of ArtNSFW on Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Velasquez, Mark Photographers from California American fashion photographers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) St. Joseph High School (Santa Maria, California) alumni