Mark Morrisroe

More about the book

The diverse work of American photographer Mark Morrisroe has primarily been discussed alongside his Boston contemporaries, Nan Goldin and David Armstrong. Like them, Morrisroe documented his circle of friends, whose lifestyles were shaped by punk and bohemia. After graduating from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in 1982, he moved to New York in the mid-1980s and tragically passed away from AIDS-related illnesses in 1989 at the age of 30. His brief creative period in the 1980s was remarkably productive, characterized by a unique aesthetic. He created painterly portraits and nude photographs, using the Polaroid camera as a reflection of his own body, capturing its illness and decay. In the years leading up to his death, he increasingly shifted his photographic experiments to the darkroom, incorporating pages from porn magazines and X-ray images of himself as negatives. This comprehensive monograph, produced for an exhibition at the Fotomuseum Winterthur and in collaboration with The Estate of Mark Morrisroe (Ringier Collection), features many previously unknown works, showcasing his tumultuous punk beginnings and the sandwich prints resulting from extensive laboratory work. The book includes over 500 images, along with newly commissioned essays and a complete biography.