Oliver Mark (born 1963) is a German photographer, known primarily for his portrait photographs of international celebrities.
Career
In the 1990s, Mark began photographing celebrities. He made portraits of public figures including actors.
His personal interest lies in contemporary artists and their creative world.
He works with both a single-lens reflex camera and an old 680 Polaroid camera. The instant photographs produced by the Polaroid reveal Mark's familiarity and closeness to the subjects he portrays.
In addition to his portraits, Mark regularly engages in independent projects. In the series Natura Morta (2017), he photographed confiscated objects from the evidence room of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation. These items, mostly falling under species protection regulations, were originally intended as souvenirs before being seized by customs authorities. Mark presents these objects in a way that emphasizes their allure, only to evoke stronger repulsion from the viewer. The series was exhibited in 2017 in two parts at the Paintings Gallery of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and the Natural History Museum in Vienna.
Personal life
Mark is the father of two sons and lives in Berlin.
Publications
- Portraits. Hatje Cantz, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-7757-2484-5.
- With Martina Schellhorn: Heimat verpflichtet. Märkische Adlige – eine Bilanz nach 20 Jahren. Brandenburgische Landeszentrale für politische Bildung, Potsdam 2012, ISBN 978-3-932502-60-6.
- Oliver Marks Blick auf Liechtensteins Staatsfeiertag. Alpenland, Schaan 2013, ISBN 978-3-905437-34-8.
- Außenseiter und Eingeweihter. [Outsider and Insider] Hatje Cantz, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-7757-3756-2.
- Aus den Trümmern kriecht das Leben. [From the rubble crawls life] b.frank books, Zürich 2013, ISBN 978-3-906217-00-0. (with poems by K. O. Götz)
- Oliver – Nutte Künstler Fotograf. Die ganze Wahrheit über Oliver Mark. [Oliver – hooker artist photographer. The whole truth about Oliver Mark] Grauel, Berlin 2014.
- Natura Morta. Kehrer, Heidelberg 2016, ISBN 978-3-86828-759-2.
(with texts by Barbara Hendricks, Rainer Vollkommer, Philipp Demandt, Julia M. Nauhaus, Michael Schipper, Aurelia Frick, Christian Köberl, Lorenz Becker) - Bucovina Monastery Life. Liechtensteinisches Landesmuseum, 2018, ISBN 978-606-8698-29-8. (with texts by Rainer Vollkommer, Constantin-Emil Ursu, Teodor Brădăţanu)
- No Show. Distanz, Berlin 2019, ISBN 978-3-95476-281-1. (with texts by Carolin Hilker-Möll, Christoph Peters, Georg Maria Roers SJ, Michael Schipper)
Solo exhibitions
- 2002/03: Portraits, Mougins Center of Photography, Mougins
- 2011: 7 Artists and 1 Nude, Galerie Gloria, Berlin
- 2011: Portraits, Neuer Pfaffenhofener Kunstverein, Pfaffenhofen a. d. Ilm
- 2012/13: Märkische Adlige – eine Bilanz nach 20 Jahren, Brandenburgische Landeszentrale für politische Bildung, Potsdam
- 2013: Heimat verpflichtet, Kanzlei im Lübbenauer Schlossbezirk, Lübbenau
- 2013: Oliver Marks Blick auf Liechtensteins Staatsfeiertag am 15 August 2012, Liechtenstein National Museum, Vaduz
- 2014: Oliver Mark – still...lesen, Goethe-Institut Irland, Dublin
- 2014: Märkische Adlige – eine Bilanz des Neuanfangs, Fürst-Pückler-Museum, Cottbus
- 2014: Aus den Trümmern kriecht das Leben – Portraits von Karl Otto Götz, Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz
- 2016/17: Natura Morta, Liechtenstein National Museum, Vaduz
- 2017: Natura Morta, Natural History Museum Vienna
- 2017: Natura Morta, Fotografien von Oliver Mark in Korrespondenz zu Stillleben-Gemälden der Sammlung, The Paintings Gallery of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
- 2018: Life at the Bukovina Monastery, Bukovina Museum Suceava, Romania
- 2019: Life at the Bukovina Monastery, Liechtenstein National Museum, Vaduz
- 2019: No Show, Villa Dessauer – Museen der Stadt Bamberg
- 2019/20: Golden Shoes – Photographs from the Collection of the Liechtenstein National Museum by Oliver Mark
- 2019/20: Life at the Bukovina Monastery, St. Thomas von Aquin Church
- 2020: Jenny Holzer's Hands in the Peter and Paul Church, Potsdam
Collections
Mark's work is held in the following permanent collections:
- Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz
- Würth Collection
- Bukovina Museum, Suceava, Romania
Gallery
See also
- List of German artists
- List of photographers
- List of people from Berlin
References
External links
- Official website
- "Oliver Mark at the Lindenau-Museum" In: clairbykahn.com
- Interview: "Oliver Mark's Astounding Portraits of Your Favorite Artists" In: noisey.vice.com
- Article about the "Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2013" In: justaddpictures.com
- Literature by and about Oliver Mark in the German National Library catalogue
