2026
Juxtaposing the faces of iconic celebrities with patterns reminiscent of quilting and folk art, Robert Mars (b. 1969) considers the many facets of American popular culture through the lens of advertising.
In Mars’s mixed-media works, brand names are collaged beneath the visages of mid-century stars such as Elvis, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe and Jackie Kennedy, with neon lighting and shiny coats of resin on wood panels lending each piece the allure of a covetable consumer object.
Born in New Jersey, Mars studied at the Parsons School of Design and worked for a time as a graphic designer. His cultural mash-ups draw on imagery from his collection of vintage magazines. Combining enlarged Xerox transfers and boldly painted colors in several built-up layers, his works recall the messy remixing of everyday objects by Robert Rauschenberg as well as the explorations of mass reproduction and fame by Andy Warhol. The shape of a Chanel No. 5 bottle, a Louis Vuitton logo and a photograph of Audrey Hepburn are all plucked from mass media as relics of Americana and the obsession with luxury. Distressing the surfaces of the pieces, Mars gives them a timeworn texture, like an old advertisement that might be found on the wall of a roadside gas station, but with a surreal quality in their recontextualized subjects.
The stars and mass-media material in Mars’s work mostly have origins in the 1950s and ’60s, an age that saw the rise of celebrity endorsements during a postwar economic boom in which there were plenty of novel new products to promote. An image of Jackie Kennedy is overlaid with ad copy for Dior; a photograph of a victorious Muhammad Ali is joined with Champion Spark Plugs typography. The nostalgia here is for commerce as much as it is for people who became a brand. In the artist’s dynamic collages, the lines between what, or who, is being packaged and sold are blurred.
Mars has produced commissions for Coca-Cola, was a featured artist for a project with Kari Whitman Interiors and was chosen in 2015 for the cover of Neiman Marcus’s May Book. He has exhibited at the Evansville Museum of Art, Coral Springs Museum of Art and elsewhere.
Find Robert Mars mixed-media works, paintings and other art on 1stDibs.
Bollinger
By Robert Mars
Located in Napa, CA
Robert Mars’ graphic compositions and rich colors provide an ideal medium in which to explore his fascination with the Golden Age of American popular culture and the icons of the 195...
Resin, Paper
How Do U Want It (Chanel)
By Robert Mars
Located in Napa, CA
Robert Mars’ graphic compositions and rich colors provide an ideal medium in which to explore his fascination with the Golden Age of American popular culture and the icons of the 195...
Resin, Panel
From Americas Best Loved (Marilyn)
By Robert Mars
Located in Napa, CA
Robert Mars’ graphic compositions and rich colors provide an ideal medium in which to explore his fascination with the Golden Age of American popular culture and the icons of the 1950’s and 60’s. Drawing inspiration from the near-mythical fame that surrounded celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe or Audrey Hepburn before the instant and all-encompassing presence of the internet, Mars’ daring approach creates paintings with a nostalgic yet innovative vintage quality. Mars begins by defining borders and background planes of color with sheets of brown paper and then proceeds to layer paint and vintage paper ephemera. He selectively sands segments of the layers, allowing specific portions of the underpainting to shine through, creating the sensation that the viewer is getting glimpses through a window into the Golden Age of America. By incorporating actual pieces of print from the eras he so adores and sealing it all under shining, impenetrable resin, Mars’s artworks transform into physical remembrances of a period in America’s past so loved and idolized, yet will forever remain trapped in history. A graduate of Parsons School of Design in New York, his artwork was selected for the Absolut Vodka Blank campaign alongside Damien Hirst, and his largest sized piece to date was acquired by Philip Morris/Altria for their corporate headquarters in Virginia. In 2015 Mars was chosen for the cover of Neiman Marcus’ May Book, while CocaCola purchased several existing works and ordered commissions for a world tour celebrating the 100-year anniversary of their trademark bottle shape, in which his artwork was spotlighted. Mars is a featured artist for a custom high end wallpaper and tile series with Kari Whitman...
Resin, Panel
MS_01.2_24
By Robert Landry
Located in Napa, CA
Somewhere at the intersection of the uncertain and the inevitable, art happens. Robert R. Landry integrates traditional and digital tools at hand in an eclectic vocabulary of nonarbi...
Canvas, Paper, Acrylic
To Be Understood
By Brett Hammond - Pop Art
Located in Napa, CA
Brett Hammond’s spray-painted canvas panels pay homage to pop art traditions as he explores his own interests in satire, drama, and romantic tension. Above all, his work is smart, fu...
Canvas, Spray Paint, Acrylic
MS_04.2_24
By Robert Landry
Located in Napa, CA
Somewhere at the intersection of the uncertain and the inevitable, art happens. Robert R. Landry integrates traditional and digital tools at hand in an eclectic vocabulary of nonarbi...
Canvas, Paper, Acrylic
Champagne wishes and caviar dreams
By Seek One
Located in New York, NY
Mixed Media Collage Piece on wood. Homage to champagne and caviar and more. Luxury life. About the artist: Seek One, a native of Philadelphia, Pennsyl...
Mixed Media
Kuro 2013 - Dom Magnum
By Campbell La Pun
Located in Boston, MA
Artist: La Pun, Campbell Title: Kuro 2013 - Dom Magnum Series: Dom Date: 2023 Medium: Aerosol on Panel Unframed Dimensions: 57.5" x 40.5" Signature: Signed Edition: Unique
Spray Paint
Cheers! v2.0
Located in New York, NY
Oil & Enamel Painted Silkscreen on Recycled Floppy Discs. Mounted on Custom built Panel. Featuring some sweet libations. About the artist: Taylor Smith...
Enamel
Dom Perignon bibendum
By Death NYC
Located in Saint-Didier, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Provocative serigraphy by Death NYC. The possibility to buy a street artist still affordable whose coast takes off. Edition: limited to 100 copies. Artist's proof Signed and numbered...
Screen
Dom Gold 2015 (UFO Drip)
By Campbell La Pun
Located in Boston, MA
Artist: La Pun, Campbell Title: Dom Gold 2015 (UFO Drip) Date: 2025 Medium: Aerosol on Panel Unframed Dimensions: 40.5" x 28.6" Signature: Signed Edition: Unique
Spray Paint
Shaken Not Stirred
By John Quigley
Located in New York, NY
Mixed Media on panel. Homage to James Bond. Pop Art. Artist Statement: "II use mixed media techniques to bring together my love of photography, painting, and the thrill of findi...
Mixed Media
