Mark Acetelli
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Mark Acetelli’s paintings exist to awaken your sense of exploration and adventure. The artist's use of shadow and silhouette creates a characteristic freedom from detailed representation and draws from contemplative discovery. A chemistry of complexity and spontaneity, lyrical abstraction of reflection and mental retreats, reveal thick paint marks buried beneath strong layers of self-taught expression. Acetelli uses powerful gestural brushwork to reveal the narrative possibilities in the border area between reality and fantasy. Reminiscent of Italian artist Alberto Giacometti's figures, Acetelli's figures take on a sculptural form within the minimal dimensionality of the surface of the canvas allowing the viewer to imagine movement, motion, and intention.
Acetelli's paintings may go through multiple incarnations with the past lying just beneath the surface, adding to its overall dimension and depth. In his work, the artist seeks to evoke a feeling rather than depict a defined image. He uses primarily oils and encaustics to create thickly layered canvases with emotive bursts of color. His works show a world where imagination and reality come together. His original artworks have been exhibited and treasured by celebrities and notable art collectors worldwide.
Mark Acetelli was born in Detroit and resides in Los Angeles. His mother was a painter and some of his earliest memories were the smell of turpentine and oil paints. Growing up surrounded by his mother’s work, she inspired and encouraged him to become an artist.
Acetelli’s paintings awaken a sense of exploration, stillness, and emotional depth. Inspired by the intensely personal, introspective journey of life—its ephemeral complexities of birth, love, and loss—his works explore the metaphysical terrain of “Absence and Presence,” a phrase he uses to describe how someone or something can be physically gone, yet emotionally remain.
Born in Detroit to a family of artists, Acetelli was introduced to visual expression by his mother, a painter whose creative influence shaped his path. Now based in Los Angeles, his practice evolved from photography and music into an intuitive, tactile painting process. His compositions are built through an intensive layering method—applying and removing paint with brushes, palette knives, cloth, and his hands. This visceral process of addition and subtraction becomes a quiet narrative not of what is seen, but what is felt.
His paintings often feature translucent, architecturally rendered figures that suggest motion, emotion, and intention—reminiscent of Alberto Giacometti’s iconic forms. Acetelli’s spontaneous mark-making and dreamlike abstraction evoke themes of memory, impermanence, and inner reflection. His intuitive approach, often created without preliminary sketches, aligns with the Taoist principle of wu wei (non-forcing), and the Zen concept of ma (間)—the meaningful space between things.
Working primarily in oils and encaustics, Acetelli creates thickly layered surfaces where previous iterations remain just beneath the final image, contributing to the overall depth and complexity. His atmospheric compositions reflect the expressive energy of J.M.W. Turner and the meditative quiet of Mark Rothko, offering moments of stillness, introspection, and discovery.
Acetelli’s works can be found in numerous private and corporate collections around the world, including Bill Withers, Lisa Colburn, the Colburn School of Music, Raytheon Corp, Universal Studios, Harbour City Hong Kong, Warner Brothers, Michael Jordan, Stuart Beattie, Claire Forlani, Camryn Manheim, and Francine Maisler. He has exhibited internationally across the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
EXHIBITIONS
2025- “Silent Currents”, Artplex Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- Solo Show “To Glow in the Afterglow,” Gallery Chang, Seoul, South Korea
- The Human Form, The Lindsey Museum and Gallery, Lindsay, CA
- “Quiet Luxury”, Artplex Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- “Here is Everywhere”, Cooper Design Space, Los Angeles, CA
- “Gathering Light”, Rita House, Los Angeles, CA
- “Sonic Visions”, Lurie Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- “Passages”, Casterline Goodman Gallery, Aspen, CO
- “1:1”, BG Gallery, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, CA
- Bendix Art Night, Los Angeles, CA
- “Adjacencies”, Durden and Ray Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- “The Theory of the Green Painting”, Wonzimer, Los Angeles, CA
- LA Art Show, Lurie Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- Solo show, “Mark Acetelli: Surface of a Dream”, Artplex Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- “Imperfections”, Wonzimer, Los Angeles, CA
- “Personal Contacts”, Durden and Ray, Los Angeles, CA
- “High Beams”, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Los Angeles, CA
- Artplex Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- Brouhah Art. Country & Urban, Virtual Exhibition, Hong Kong
- “There From Hear”, LA Artcore, Los Angeles, CA
- LA Art Fair, Bruce Lurie Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- Morton Contemporary, Philadelphia, PA
- Bendix Night, Bendix Building, Los Angeles, CA
- “High Beams”, Bendix Building, Los Angeles, CA
- Art Palm Springs, Artspace Warehouse, CA
- Artspace Warehouse, Los Angeles, CA
- Mash Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- Durden and Ray, Los Angeles, CA
- Barba Contemporary, Palm Springs, CA
- Casterline/Goodman Gallery, Nantucket, MA
- “Art Crush”, Casterline/Goodman Gallery, Aspen, CO
- “TAG Gallery”, Los Angeles, CA
- Castelli Artspace Gallery, Culver City, CA
- Casterline/Goodman Gallery, Aspen, CO
- AAF Hong Kong
- Artspace Warehouse, Los Angeles, CA
- Affordable Art Fair New York, NY
- Art Palm Springs, CA
- Affordable Art Fair Hong Kong
- Affordable Art Fair New York, NY
- Affordable Art Fair London, UK
- Art Palm Springs, CA
- Artspace Warehouse Los Angeles, CA
- Art Hamptons, NY
- Affordable Art Fair Hong Kong
- Affordable Art Fair New York, NY
- Palm Springs Fine Art Fair, CA
- Artspace Warehouse Los Angeles, CA
- Affordable Art Fair New York, NY
- Artspace Warehouse Los Angeles, CA
- Houston Fine Art Fair, TX
- “Shadows and Light”, Whole 9 Gallery, Culver City, CA
- Southside Art Gallery, Oxford, MS
- Affordable Art Fair New York, NY
- Art Palm Beach, MW Galleries, Chicago
- Affordable Art Fair Los Angeles, CA
- San Diego Fine Art Fair, Artspace Warehouse, CA
- Artspace Warehouse, Los Angeles, CA
- David Perry Smith Gallery, Memphis, TN
- Art Hamptons Museum Works Gallery, Chicago
- Art Chicago, Museum Works Gallery, Chicago
- Art San Francisco Museum Works Gallery Chicago
- Gallery 825, GEM Group Show, Los Angeles, CA
- Art Aspen, Museum Works Gallery, Chicago
- Art London, Museum Works Gallery, Chicago
- In Art Santa Fe Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
- MW Galleries, Aspen, CO
- Gallery 9, Outside the Abstract, Culver City, CA
- The Art of Elysium, Pieces of Heaven, Los Angeles, CA
- Gallery 825, W. Hollywood, CA
- Los Angeles Art Association, GEM, W. Hollywood, CA
- Affordable Art Fair New York, NY
- Pipeline for a Cure, San Diego, CA
- Left Coast Galleries, Bulls & Matadors, Studio City, CA
- Pharmaka “The Man Show”, Los Angeles
- The Whole 9 Gallery, Fearless Leaders, Culver City, CA
- Left Coast Gallery, Studio City, CA
- MW Galleries, Aspen, CO
- Pharmaka, “Marks on Paper”, Los Angeles, CA
- Dale Youngman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- Left Coast Galleries, Studio City, CA
- Museum Works Gallery Aspen, CO
- Whole 9 Gallery, Culver City, CA
- Industry Color ”Young L.A.” Culver City, CA
- New Mark Gallery, New York, NY
- Museum Work Gallery, Aspen, CO
- Lawrence Asher Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- Whole 9 Gallery, Culver City, CA
- Bert Green, Los Angeles, CA
- Red Dot Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- Pharmaka Gallery “L.A Ethos,” Los Angeles, CA
- Ambrogi/Castanier Gallery, Beverly Hills, CA
- Lurie Gallery, Studio City, CA
- Michael Josephs Gallery, Wilton Manors, FL
- Lurie Gallery, Studio City, CA
- Studio Blue Promotions, Brentwood, CA
- Melrose lightspace Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- Lurie Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- New York International Art Expo, New York, NY
- Art Miami, Miami, FL
- Artfront Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- Track 16 Gallery, Hollywood Bowl, Sphere Project
- Create Fixate, Los Angeles, CA
- Guardian Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- Art Coalition, Los Angeles, CA
- Chaz Dean Studio, Hollywood, CA
NOTABLE COLLECTORS
Bill Withers
Lisa Colburn
Michael JordanCamryn Manheim
Francine Maisler
Mark Acetelli was born in Detroit and resides in Los Angeles. His mother was a painter and some of his earliest memories were the smell of turpentine and oil paints. Growing up surrounded by his mother’s work, she inspired and encouraged him to become an artist.
Acetelli’s paintings awaken a sense of exploration, stillness, and emotional depth. Inspired by the intensely personal, introspective journey of life—its ephemeral complexities of birth, love, and loss—his works explore the metaphysical terrain of “Absence and Presence,” a phrase he uses to describe how someone or something can be physically gone, yet emotionally remain.
Born in Detroit to a family of artists, Acetelli was introduced to visual expression by his mother, a painter whose creative influence shaped his path. Now based in Los Angeles, his practice evolved from photography and music into an intuitive, tactile painting process. His compositions are built through an intensive layering method—applying and removing paint with brushes, palette knives, cloth, and his hands. This visceral process of addition and subtraction becomes a quiet narrative not of what is seen, but what is felt.
His paintings often feature translucent, architecturally rendered figures that suggest motion, emotion, and intention—reminiscent of Alberto Giacometti’s iconic forms. Acetelli’s spontaneous mark-making and dreamlike abstraction evoke themes of memory, impermanence, and inner reflection. His intuitive approach, often created without preliminary sketches, aligns with the Taoist principle of wu wei (non-forcing), and the Zen concept of ma (間)—the meaningful space between things.
Working primarily in oils and encaustics, Acetelli creates thickly layered surfaces where previous iterations remain just beneath the final image, contributing to the overall depth and complexity. His atmospheric compositions reflect the expressive energy of J.M.W. Turner and the meditative quiet of Mark Rothko, offering moments of stillness, introspection, and discovery.
Acetelli’s works can be found in numerous private and corporate collections around the world, including Bill Withers, Lisa Colburn, the Colburn School of Music, Raytheon Corp, Universal Studios, Harbour City Hong Kong, Warner Brothers, Michael Jordan, Stuart Beattie, Claire Forlani, Camryn Manheim, and Francine Maisler. He has exhibited internationally across the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
EXHIBITIONS
2025- “Silent Currents”, Artplex Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- Solo Show “To Glow in the Afterglow,” Gallery Chang, Seoul, South Korea
- The Human Form, The Lindsey Museum and Gallery, Lindsay, CA
- “Quiet Luxury”, Artplex Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- “Here is Everywhere”, Cooper Design Space, Los Angeles, CA
- “Gathering Light”, Rita House, Los Angeles, CA
- “Sonic Visions”, Lurie Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- “Passages”, Casterline Goodman Gallery, Aspen, CO
- “1:1”, BG Gallery, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, CA
- Bendix Art Night, Los Angeles, CA
- “Adjacencies”, Durden and Ray Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- “The Theory of the Green Painting”, Wonzimer, Los Angeles, CA
- LA Art Show, Lurie Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- Solo show, “Mark Acetelli: Surface of a Dream”, Artplex Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- “Imperfections”, Wonzimer, Los Angeles, CA
- “Personal Contacts”, Durden and Ray, Los Angeles, CA
- “High Beams”, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Los Angeles, CA
- Artplex Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- Brouhah Art. Country & Urban, Virtual Exhibition, Hong Kong
- “There From Hear”, LA Artcore, Los Angeles, CA
- LA Art Fair, Bruce Lurie Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- Morton Contemporary, Philadelphia, PA
- Bendix Night, Bendix Building, Los Angeles, CA
- “High Beams”, Bendix Building, Los Angeles, CA
- Art Palm Springs, Artspace Warehouse, CA
- Artspace Warehouse, Los Angeles, CA
- Mash Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- Durden and Ray, Los Angeles, CA
- Barba Contemporary, Palm Springs, CA
- Casterline/Goodman Gallery, Nantucket, MA
- “Art Crush”, Casterline/Goodman Gallery, Aspen, CO
- “TAG Gallery”, Los Angeles, CA
- Castelli Artspace Gallery, Culver City, CA
- Casterline/Goodman Gallery, Aspen, CO
- AAF Hong Kong
- Artspace Warehouse, Los Angeles, CA
- Affordable Art Fair New York, NY
- Art Palm Springs, CA
- Affordable Art Fair Hong Kong
- Affordable Art Fair New York, NY
- Affordable Art Fair London, UK
- Art Palm Springs, CA
- Artspace Warehouse Los Angeles, CA
- Art Hamptons, NY
- Affordable Art Fair Hong Kong
- Affordable Art Fair New York, NY
- Palm Springs Fine Art Fair, CA
- Artspace Warehouse Los Angeles, CA
- Affordable Art Fair New York, NY
- Artspace Warehouse Los Angeles, CA
- Houston Fine Art Fair, TX
- “Shadows and Light”, Whole 9 Gallery, Culver City, CA
- Southside Art Gallery, Oxford, MS
- Affordable Art Fair New York, NY
- Art Palm Beach, MW Galleries, Chicago
- Affordable Art Fair Los Angeles, CA
- San Diego Fine Art Fair, Artspace Warehouse, CA
- Artspace Warehouse, Los Angeles, CA
- David Perry Smith Gallery, Memphis, TN
- Art Hamptons Museum Works Gallery, Chicago
- Art Chicago, Museum Works Gallery, Chicago
- Art San Francisco Museum Works Gallery Chicago
- Gallery 825, GEM Group Show, Los Angeles, CA
- Art Aspen, Museum Works Gallery, Chicago
- Art London, Museum Works Gallery, Chicago
- In Art Santa Fe Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
- MW Galleries, Aspen, CO
- Gallery 9, Outside the Abstract, Culver City, CA
- The Art of Elysium, Pieces of Heaven, Los Angeles, CA
- Gallery 825, W. Hollywood, CA
- Los Angeles Art Association, GEM, W. Hollywood, CA
- Affordable Art Fair New York, NY
- Pipeline for a Cure, San Diego, CA
- Left Coast Galleries, Bulls & Matadors, Studio City, CA
- Pharmaka “The Man Show”, Los Angeles
- The Whole 9 Gallery, Fearless Leaders, Culver City, CA
- Left Coast Gallery, Studio City, CA
- MW Galleries, Aspen, CO
- Pharmaka, “Marks on Paper”, Los Angeles, CA
- Dale Youngman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- Left Coast Galleries, Studio City, CA
- Museum Works Gallery Aspen, CO
- Whole 9 Gallery, Culver City, CA
- Industry Color ”Young L.A.” Culver City, CA
- New Mark Gallery, New York, NY
- Museum Work Gallery, Aspen, CO
- Lawrence Asher Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- Whole 9 Gallery, Culver City, CA
- Bert Green, Los Angeles, CA
- Red Dot Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- Pharmaka Gallery “L.A Ethos,” Los Angeles, CA
- Ambrogi/Castanier Gallery, Beverly Hills, CA
- Lurie Gallery, Studio City, CA
- Michael Josephs Gallery, Wilton Manors, FL
- Lurie Gallery, Studio City, CA
- Studio Blue Promotions, Brentwood, CA
- Melrose lightspace Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- Lurie Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- New York International Art Expo, New York, NY
- Art Miami, Miami, FL
- Artfront Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- Track 16 Gallery, Hollywood Bowl, Sphere Project
- Create Fixate, Los Angeles, CA
- Guardian Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- Art Coalition, Los Angeles, CA
- Chaz Dean Studio, Hollywood, CA
NOTABLE COLLECTORS
Bill Withers
Lisa Colburn
Michael JordanCamryn Manheim
Francine Maisler