Mark Stock (1951-2014)

It is now over seven years since Mark died suddenly in Oakland on March 26th, 2014 and we had a stellar memorial, including his paintings, music and photos, and hundreds of friends and family at the Scottish Rite Center, but he is still very much with us. His life story in his own words are below, or see his obituaries in the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle and CineSource Magazine.

The World According to Mark Stock

Since setting up this Website some five years ago, a lot has happened, much of it related to cinema. I was selected to design the poster image for the 2007 Telluride Film Festival. My painting portrayed a man who is obsessed with the woman working in a theatre ticket booth. I enjoyed this opportunity to incorporate my love of cinema with themes that have recurred in my paintings such as obsession, fixation and voyeurism.

Sharon and I attended the weekend-long festival in the lovely town of Telluride, nestled in the Colorado peaks. We enjoyed many wonderful films as well as that year’s tribute honoring Daniel Day Lewis.

Also in 2007, Jada Pinkett Smith used over a dozen of my paintings in her directorial debut, the feature film, “The Human Contract”. It was fun to attend the film shoot in Los Angeles for the scenes involving my images.

Then, in 2008, David Arquette contacted me, asking permission to use one of my paintings as the subject for a short film which he would direct as well as act in.

The painting, "The Butler's in Love - Absinthe", hangs at Bix Restaurant in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco. After reading the screenplay by Curtis Reynolds, I enthusiastically gave my approval. As I watched the film shoot at Bix, it was rewarding for me to see that the painting I created back in 1989 was being paid a tribute with it’s very own movie. A red carpet premier was even held at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood — actually, a green carpet in honor of the absinthe theme! — which was quite the finale.

More recently, Magic Magazine did a feature article on my dear friend, the great comedic magician Voronin. Its cover was graced with one of the many portraits I have painted of Voronin over the years and several other painting were reproduced to accompany the text.

I continue to have one-man shows at Modernism Gallery in San Francisco—indeed, one entitled "Stage Stories", just opened on March 1, 2012. I also had a show in New York in 2010. Again in 2011, however, I returned to the realm of cinema when I was contacted by the documentary film director/producer, Wendy Slick. Filming is still ongoing for "The World of Mark Stock - A Noir Documentary" — more on it when she finishes.

The Life of Mark Stock

Born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1951, the son of an Army officer, Mark Stock lived in many states across America before settling in St. Petersburg, Florida. He received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of South Florida in Tampa where he studied under Theo Wujcik.

Upon graduating in 1976, Stock was hired to work at Gemini G.E.L. in Los Angeles as a lithographer. While there, he printed for notable artists such as Jasper Johns, David Hockney, Robert Rauschenberg, and Roy Lichtenstein before leaving to paint full time.

In 1977, Stock began studying ballet and modern dance. His work expanded to include designing sets for various Los Angeles-based dance companies. He started to paint the figure in 1983 and has become widely known for his narrative paintings.

From the 2000 book, Mark Stock: Paintings, by Barnaby Conrad III:

“Mark Stock's paintings connect viewers to the euphoria, loneliness and sometimes fatal entanglements of romance. Often melodramatic and tinged with irony, Stock's images illustrate love's power to provoke our best - and most illicit - behavior. A well-dressed voyeur peeks through a mansion window, silent and intent on the object of his desire. Picnicking lovers lock into each other's eyes. An attractive woman smokes a cigarette as she sits next to a man's corpse, which has been rolled neatly in a carpet, ready for disposal. A butler steals a moment to treasure lipstick left on a glass by the woman who employs him. Stocks paintings tell each character's story with remarkable clarity and, in many cases, with humor. A master of the realist narrative style, Stock uses color, shadow and line to amazing effect. Details in facial inflection, body language, and background tell you there's more going on here than rapture, scandal, and dangerous liaisons. These paintings keep you coming back for another look, for clues to life's emotionally charged moments."

Stock's works can be found in the permanent collections of The Brooklyn Museum, Museum of Modern Art (New York and San Francisco), The Library of Congress and The National Gallery.

Besides painting, Stock is a jazz drummer whose trio performs regularly. Also an accomplished magician and serious golfer, Stock previously held Club Championship titles at Sonoma Golf Club and Metropolitan Golf Links in Oakland. He resides in Oakland, California.

Curriculum Vitae

Born

Frankfurt, Germany, 1951

Education

St. Petersburg Junior College
University of South Florida, Bachelor of Fine Arts

Selected Public Collections

Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, San Francisco,
          CA
Bellagio Hotel, Las Vegas, NV
Brooklyn Museum, NY
De Saisset Museum, Santa Clara, CA
Library of Congress, Washington, DC
Los Angeles Center Studios, Los Angeles, CA
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, Nevada
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
Speed Museum, Louisville, KY
Tampa Museum, Tampa, FL
University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers, NJ

Set Design

1992 Los Angeles Chamber Ballet production of Sleepwalk
          Ballet Pacifica production of Personal
          Statements-Common Knowledge
1990 Los Angeles Chamber Ballet production of So Nice
1989 Los Angeles Chamber Ballet production of Dmitri
1988 Los Angeles Chamber Ballet production of Orpheus-
          A Ballet-Opera in One Act
1986 Los Angeles Chamber Ballet production of The Little
          Prince
1984 Playwright Nancy Barr's Johnny Dakota Writes It
         Down
1981 Rudy Perez Dance Company production of Tracers
          and Take Stock

Scenic Art

1982-85 Painted scenery for films and television
          commercials

One-Person Exhibitions

2012 Stage Stories, Modernism, San Francisco, CA
2010 Oil Paintings, Sutherland Fine Arts, Ltd., New
          York, NY
2009 Short Stories, Modernism, San Francisco, CA
2009 Drawings & Prints, Modernism, San Francisco, CA
2008 Reverie, Modernism, San Francisco, CA
2007 Survey Exhibition 1985-2007, Modernism West, San
          Francisco, CA
2006 Palimpsest, Modernism, San Francisco, CA
2005 Illusions, Modernism, San Francisco, CA
2004 New Paintings, Modernism, San Francisco, CA
2003 Nightfall, Earl McGrath Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2002 Teatro Zinzanni, Modernism, San Francisco, CA
2001 Modernism, San Francisco, CA
1999 Armory Art Center, West Palm Beach, FL
1999 Suggested Evidence, New Paintings, Modernism, San
          Francisco
1997 A Double Life , Modernism, San Francisco, CA
1996 Mark Stock: Paintings and Designs 1986-1996 ,
          University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
1995 Hollywood, Modernism, San Francisco, CA
1994 Modernism, San Francisco, CA
1992 State & Costume Designs for the Theater & Other
          Works on Paper 1977-1992, Modernism, San
          Francisco, CA
1991 Susan Johnson Gallery, Tampa, FL
1990 Modernism, San Francisco, CA
1989 Modernism, San Francisco, CA
1989 Rosenthal Fine Arts, Chicago, IL
          Modernism, San Francisco, CA
1988 Tortue Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
          Modernism, San Francisco, CA
1987 Tortue Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1986 California Contemporary Artist 32 , Laguna Art
          Museum, Laguna Beach, CA
1985 Tortue Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1981 Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York, NY
1980 University of South Florida, Tampa, FL

Awards

Distinguished Alumnus Achievement Award, University of
         South Florida, Tampa, FL 1993

Publications

Mark Stock: Paintings by Barnaby Conrad II