60 Years of Mark Bulwinkle

The John Natsoulas Gallery is proud to announce a major retrospective exhibition of the work of acclaimed Funk artist Mark Bulwinkle, opening June 2026. Spanning two floors of the gallery, this landmark exhibition will survey six decades of the artist’s prolific career and explore the full breadth of his creative practice.

This exhibition, the first to consider every aspect of the artist’s significant career, will address Mark Bulwinkle’s interests in printmaking, ceramics, and metal sculpture. His distinctive artworks will be accompanied by an array of archival materials – photographs, publications, and ephemera – that all highlight his expansive body of work. The exhibition will follow a chronological arc, presenting his earliest forays into printmaking and ceramics and to his later development into one of the most well-known metal sculptors of today. The organization of the exhibition will highlight his place alongside fellow artists who also pioneered West Coast art movements.

Mark Bulwinkle (b. 1946) was born in Massachusetts and he graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a BFA in 1968. As an anti-war proponent, he naturally gravitated toward the counterculture ideals of the West Coast, where he delved into the Funk Movement and the Hippy Art scene. After completing an MFA at the San Francisco Art Institute in printmaking he also attended the San Francisco John O’Connell Trade School to study industrial welding. From there, he used those skills as a shipbuilder at Bethlehem Ship Yards for over a decade. In 1987, he became a full time artist, combining his knowledge of printmaking with welding to create torch-cut metal cutouts. As pioneer of this medium, Bulwinkle quickly gained international notoriety, and he showed in museums and galleries across the world. National publication also covered the transformation of his own property as a sculpture-filled landmark he called the eponymous “Bulwinkleland,” earning him a larger-than-life reputation for the bizarre. Many have imitated his techniques and style, but no one marches his singular ability to blend humor, provocation, and technical mastery. Today, Bulwinkle remains a vital force in contemporary art, producing prints, sculptures, and ceramics that challenge convention and celebrate the absurd.

“Close friends and fellow artists have remarked that Mark does not make art. He makes Bulwinkles.”

The exhibition’s opening reception is to be held to coincide with the Downtown Davis 2nd Friday ArtAbout on July 10 from 7:00-9:00 PM. It will feature live music and refreshments.