Presented by: Seraphin Gallery (booth 125)
When: During Show Hours
Where: At entrance walkway
Invited Artist Installation: “The Universal Urge to Mark”

Artist’s Statement: It has become clear to me that the universal urge to mark is actually a universal urge to connect, through mark-making, to something deep within us, possibly to a higher power or spiritual world outside of ourselves. The universality is strongly suggested by the fact that over 40,000 years ago Homo Sapiens evolved out of Africa and migrated to both Europe and Asia and arrived to make the same symbol: the hand stencil.

About the Artist: Over the past 39 years, light sculptor Craig A. Kraft has gained national recognition for his innovative neon light works. For the last 10 years, Kraft has been working with rolled aluminum and neon to create monumental public art works. His sculptures have been featured in over 135 exhibits throughout the US (14 solo).

He was invited to exhibit at both the Busan Biennale: Chasm – Crossing Over 2004 in Korea and Hermandades Escultoricas 2005 in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. He has twice been a featured artist at the International Sculptor’s Conference. Kraft was commissioned to create rolled aluminum and neon light sculptures for Montgomery County, MD, the Downtown Silver Spring, MD Development project, the Rockville, MD Downtown Development Project, The Arlington Arts Center in Arlington, VA (where his work was selected by Stephen Phillips of the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC), and most recently a large scale sculpture for the Watha T. Daniel Library in Washington, DC.