Mark Flood in the Nineties

A dark chapter of art history dragged into the light. Painter and provocateur, Mark Flood’s career blazed like an erratic comet thru the bubblicious art world of the early twenty-first century. Now his brother Clark Flood tells the story of Mark’s struggles of the 1990s, before he hit the big time. Meticulously researched, Mark Flood in the 1990s recounts accusations of Satanism, confiscation of work by the local police, and a decision to sell advertising space on the surface of paintings. We learn about a profusion of false identities and Flood’s innovative use of surrogates for public appearances. Finally we retrace the artist’s prolific output as he spirals down into depression and fantasies of suicide. This arc unexpectedly culminates in the discovery of the lace painting technique that would make him rich. Mark Flood in the 1990s reproduces hundreds of paintings and documents, many never published before, as well as vintage photographs of studios and exhibits.