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It’s never too late to dream big dreams. Just ask Los Angeles artist MARK BRADFORD, who recently opened his first major retrospective at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Ohio. A pretty incredible fete for the former hairstylist.

The winner of the prestigious MacArthur Foundation “Genius” grant, MARK paints mostly large-scale abstract collages made from a variety of found materials in his South Los Angeles neighborhood. MARK considers himself an “urban archaeologist” and blends high art with popular culture to brilliant effect.

At 49, MARK has taken the international art scene by storm and his paintings now reach up to $250,000! The retrospective at Wex Arts runs through August 15, but is scheduled for the ICA in Boston, MCA in Chicago and the Dallas Museum of Art, so be sure to check your local listings for details. MARK dreams big and in spectacular technicolor and his retrospective should not be missed.

“What I do is so abstract, but abstraction obviously comes from somewhere. It’s almost like a memory. I would call my work internal landscapes.”

“I’ve always been fascinated by archaeology…by the way culture leaves its traces on the Earth. In my work, I’m interested in digging and unearthing, but I suppose what I’m really doing is unearthing my own genealogy in bits and pieces.”

“I tend to obliterate the canvas with paper so it becomes opaque, almost like a wall, and then I begin to build. Between the first layer and the final surface layer of paper is where all the action happens.”