Mark D

Mark D
Born	Mark Randall
Nationality	British
Known for	Painting
Movement	Stuckism

Mark D, born Mark Randall, is a British artist and punk musician (guitarist and songwriter). He is also associated with the Stuckist group of artists.

Mark D was born and spent his childhood in Peterborough. He now lives in Nottingham. From university onwards, Mark D (D standing for "degenerate") played in various bands including the Fat Tulips, Confetti (when he was known as David), the Pleasure Heads (when he was known as Mark Randyhead), Oscar, Servalan and Sundress, and appeared on dozens of releases. He published and edited fanzines, including the underground C86 fanzine Two Pint Take Home. He is a co-owner of Heaven Records.

The Fat Tulips were formed in 1987 and have been described as "incredibly skilled in the art of buzzing electric guitars, ferocious tempos, pristine pop melodies and lyrics that weren't nearly as sweet as they sounded at first listen."

A few years after the Fat Tulips broke up in the mid-1990s, he started a dealership in art and antiques with his wife, Tully, focusing on work from the 1960s and 1970s, including John Piper, Stig Lindberg, Lucienne Day and John Clappison.

An interest in the music of Billy Childish led onto Childish's paintings, which he acquired, and subsequently also the work of other artists in the Stuckist group. He contacted two artists who had been exhibited by the Stuckists, Stella Vine and Gina Bold, both of whom refused to sell him work, because of his connection with Childish. Vine responded with an email, which said, "Go fuck yourself".

Frustrated at not being able to acquire that work for his collection and inspired by an Andy Warhol quote, "If you want to sell paintings you have to make paintings", Mark D began in May 2005 to make his own paintings, for which he had no formal training or qualifications ("my only qualification is a love of art"). He was encouraged and given advice by Stuckist co-founder, Charles Thomson, without whom Mark D said, "I could easily have given up on doing my own work."

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