Local Artist Pushes ‘Limitations’ with Latest Exhibit

BELLEFONTE — Local artist Eric Markievich remembers beginning to create art as one of his earliest memories.

Recently, Markievich displayed his own exhibit in the Special Exhibitions Gallery in the Bellefonte Art Museum in September and October.

Markievich’s mixed-media exhibit, titled “Singularity, and the Grand Delusion,” created a narrative of things in life that aren’t “seen with the naked eye,” he said.

The museum approved the first part of Markievich’s exhibit, “Recycled Illusions on the Path to Singularity,” for the window gallery in 2020.

“After the show was up for two months, I was taking it down, and they asked me if I would be able to do a show (in the Special Exhibitions Gallery) with all of my work,” Markievich said.

For Markievich, the Special Exhibitions Gallery is the “highest point” an artist can get to in the museum.

“I pushed my limitations with this one,” Markievich said.

However, Markievich didn’t always know he would tackle how humans have merged with technology with his art. Before becoming an artist, Markievich said he witnessed what the world was like while serving in the Army for nine years.

“As I matured more, it started to become more important to me,” Markievich said. “If I have the knowledge and strength to maybe pull people together with art, then I will.”

In the second body of art, “Delusions of Grandeur,” Markievich focused on waste and consumption, especially in the Centre County area. For one piece, he said he took nearly 300 pictures of waste along Spring Creek. Other sculptures in the exhibit were created from his non-recyclable materials.

“Even if it was a straw for a lid, I would get down and take a picture of it,” Markievich said.

Markievich said he hopes his art continues to “bring people together,” but after this exhibit, he’s going to give himself a “brain break.”

“I’m not really an eco-artist,” he said. “I’m just an artist.”