My Heroes

Big Batman, Big S Man 2 and the other costumes included in the show grow from The Sweatermen, series which are heroes of Newport’s invention. The Sweaterman costumes push the image of the hero by highlighting knitting materials, textures, and traditions (cables and the use of “ends” to make a sweater) in the form of the costume. Some of the color and texture choices are based on the sweaters his mother made - her love of cables and her color choices. In these he works to forge the link between childhood experience and an adult understanding of protection, masculinity, and heroism.

Mark Newport is the Artist-in-Residence and Head of Fiber at the Cranbrook Academy of Art.

Newport’s work has been exhibited internationally. Recent awards include grants from the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, Creative Capital Foundation, the Kresge Foundation, and the Arizona Commission on the Arts. Newport’s work is in the collections of The Whitney Museum of American Art; The Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Arizona State University Art Museum, the Cranbrook Art Museum, and The Detroit Institute of Arts. The Greg Kucera Gallery and the Duane Reed Gallery represent his work.