It has been said entering one of Mark’s large-scale installations was like entering a temple or a shrine. Many of the topics were about growing up gay in the Midwest, lost innocence and childhood experiences. When Mark was diagnosed with AIDS in 1986, his installations shifted to AIDS-related themes and AIDS awareness. These installations gave the viewer a glimpse into the reality of living with AIDS and were featured in art galleries in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Norway and Germany. Mark’s installations were so powerful they were later adapted as public art and displayed city-wide in Los Angeles.

Personal Best / 1992 (photo session)
Photography by Catherine Opie
Collection of Roger Workman

Personal Best

Personal Best, Mark’s final installation, was conceived and installed a few months prior to his death. Personal Best features a life-size photo of an emaciated Mark wearing only a loincloth. The cement floor below the photo was strewn with six months’ worth of medical detritus–prescription bottles, syringes, catheters and doctor bills. A Christmas tree-like object below the photograph of Mark is covered with his baby and childhood photos. A glass vase with a single white rose was mounted on the opposite wall. This emotional exhibit gave the viewer a dreary realization of the pain and costs associated with living with AIDS.

Personal Best / 1992 (installation view)
photography, christening gown, chairs, literature,
medical orders, medical detritus
Collection of Roger Workman

Personal Best / 1992
detail of medical detritus
Collection of Roger Workman

Personal Best / 1992
detail of chair and detritus
Collection of Roger Workman

Personal Best / 1992
detail of medical detritus
Collection of Roger Workman

Personal Best / 1992
detail of christening gown
Collection of Roger Workman

Untitled (Dream)

Untitled (Dream) consists of projected dissolving images of clouds and the sound of garbled airport announcements. Signs lettered with AIDS-related acronyms like HIV and SIDA hang on walls flanking the main narrative. It recounts a dream where the artist, waiting for departure, sees dancing seals in the sky. Gradually he realizes that these beautiful creatures soon drift downward to death on the ground.

Untitled (Dream) / 1988
photographs, sound, sliders, text
Collection of Roger Workman

Untitled (Dream) / 1988 (detail)
photographs, sound, sliders, text
Collection of Roger Workman

Mixed Blessings

Mixed Blessings was an installation of Mark’s objects at Ruth Bloom Gallery in Santa Monica. The exhibit featured work from a year-long studio session that produced some of his most critically acclaimed work. This striking exhibit was on display at the time of his death in 1993.

Mixed Blessings / 1993
Installation view
Ruth Bloom Gallery

Tales From a Boyhood

Tales From a Boyhood is about growing up gay in the Midwest when everyone around you disparages "queers" and promotes macho behavior. The exhibit contained derogatory names for gays in large block letters. The space forced the viewer to look at society from a gay man’s perspective as they entered each room containing objects from Mark’s past including a stack of Playboy magazines. Sections of the exhibit were later converted to bus shelter posters and other public art.

Tales From a Boyhood / 1992 (detail of entrance)
photographs, latex letters, text
Collection of Roger Workman

Tales From a Boyhood / 1992 (detail )
photographs, objects, text
Collection of Roger Workman

Tales From a Boyhood / 1992 (detail)
photographs, objects, text
Collection of Roger Workman

Tales From a Boyhood / 1992 (detail)
photographs, objects, text
Collection of Roger Workman

Bus Shelter Poster / 1991
Silkscreen
Collection of Roger Workman

Salvation

Salvation contained portrait boxes of various '“sinners” who committed wicked acts but had gone to heaven. They recount tales of friends who died in absurd ways, such as a little girl who so delighted in pogo-sticking she bounced herself over the edge of a cliff. An avid shopper falls fatally down the mall escalator. Each narrative is accompanied by a biblical verse dipped in irony. A rich and hypocritical evangelist is at the museum pursuing his passion for art when a crazed art student stabs him to death. The verse, of course, is "Beware of false prophets."

Salvation / 1990
Installation view
Ruth Bloom Gallery and Roger Workman

Salvation / 1990 (detail)
Installation view
Ruth Bloom Gallery and Roger Workman