Alex Markwith:
Intersections

Intersections is a solo exhibition by Alex Markwith exploring the tension and overlap between abstract and representational, digital and physical, structure and disintegration. 

The paintings are layered and heavily textured, often showing signs of rupture, erosion and decay. For Markwith, the canvas is simultaneously a picture plane, an object and a site of action. Geometric grids suggest logic or rhythm, broken by gestural strokes, drips and occasional slashes through the surface. Objects emerge within or are transposed upon linear matrices; there is a hybridization of the human body, psychology and architecture. 

Recurring images such as chess pieces and skulls address themes of power, conflict, mortality and transformation. 

Markwith works between the canvas and the computer. For several years, the artist has experimented with feeding his own work to artificial intelligence to generate new images, which may then be further manipulated in Photoshop. These distorted, cyber-transmuted visuals are printed on paper and reincorporated into new paintings, where they are blended with, obscured by and buried under expressionistic brushwork. Paintings develop gradually, with chance, spontaneity and improvisation playing a central role at each stage. 

The final work celebrates the hand-made nature of painting and highlights the role of artistic agency in a world increasingly ruled by algorithms. How does AI shape or distort artistic intent? What would it mean for AI to be truly creative? Markwith is engaged with broader philosophical questions of technology’s role in creative practice, including concerns of authorship, ethics and control in the digital age.  

 
About the artist: 

Alex Markwith is a visual artist based in Helsinki. Originally from the USA, Markwith lived in New York for ten years and holds a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design. He is a member of Taidemaalariliitto, Helsinki Artists’ Association and Globe Art Point and has received grants from the City of Helsinki and the Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike). 

Markwith’s works have been shown in over 60 exhibitions worldwide including Paris, Berlin, Helsinki, New York, Los Angeles and Dubai and are held in the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and numerous private collections.