Kissing Bridge All Seasons Resort, 10296 State Road, Glenwood, New York 14069 (Get Directions)

The Buffalo AKG Art Museum’s Public Art Initiative was proud to collaborate with Kissing Bridge All Seasons Resort to welcome internationally recognized artist Mark Paul Deren, known as MADSTEEZ. Founded in 1958 as a ski destination, Kissing Bridge is now under new ownership and reimagined with a year-round vision of recreation, art, wellness, and community. It is a gathering place with a deep connective layer across generations of families, designed to include everyone from lifelong skiers to those discovering the mountain for the first time.

Born blind in his left eye and given three first names, artist Mark Paul Deren (aka MADSTEEZ) is a human color wheel spinning on overdrive. Currently based in Brooklyn, New York, MADSTEEZ’s eclectic personality breaths through each colorful piece he creates. He is known for his vivid, large-scale, multi-layered paintings, where strange and familiar figures are integrated into abstract landscapes.

At Kissing Bridge, MADSTEEZ executed two large scale murals in his signature style. The first, titled ://GROW!NG_BUFFALO, sees the artist incorporate sports iconography. This is a common theme in his practice, and in this mural MADSTEEZ pays homage to the region’s love for the Buffalo Bills while incorporating a child in the helmet to give a nod to the importance of future generations to the success of Western New York.

The second mural, ://_K!SS!NG_WEENaflow, is a more playful adaptation of a buffalo rendered as one of the artist's characters. The bright abstracted background extends across the resort and radiates out to the hikers, mountain bikers, and snow sports enthusiasts coming down the mountain.

By combining elements of street art and advertising, MADSTEEZ has created many collaborative items and apparel with some of the biggest companies in the world—including Nike, Red Bull, BMW, Stüssy, Amazon, and RipCurl. He has held solo exhibitions in New York, Los Angeles, and Tokyo, as well as group showings in London, Germany, Portland, Vancouver and Art Basel, Miami.