the contemporary art section of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. In the 1970s, influenced by the work of René Magritte's eight methods, he began to search for ways of displaying oppositions and contradictions as the motivation for a painting. From this he decided that illustration and representation were fundamentally necessary to heal the rift between art and practice, between symbol and meaning. The implication is that he as an artist is searching for a "drive" to incorporate in his subjects, that would engage the viewer intellectually, while avoiding simple visual methods and opting for a more subtle and, consequently, more sophisticated and effective approach. Most of his paintings can readily be used as examples of that approach, where at first glance nothing is out of ordinary, but then it becomes apparent that certain elements are out of context, while remaining coherent visually, thus creating the conflict. References External links Artcyclopedia entry American Kaleidoscope page Brief essay by Amy Scott, amyscott.com AskArt entry Mark Tansey on Widewalls "Mark Tansey: Artist Biography" (& links to other pages), Gagosian Gallery website. "Triumph Over Mastery" (1986), Accession number: 87.4 (no image), Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles website. "Profile | Mark Tansey", next-after-this.com, September 16, 2011. Marini, Alexandra, "Mark Tansey", annualartmagazine.com, 2010–11. 1949 births Living people 20th-century American painters 21st-century American painters Postmodern artists Artists from San Jose, California Painters from California