Artist Profiles | Mark Vallen

Mark Vallen was born in Los Angeles, California in 1953 where he has been creating socially conscious artworks for as long as he can remember. By 1971, at the age of 17, he had already published cartoons in the Los Angeles Free Press newspaper. In the same year he published his first street poster, a pre-Watergate artwork titled, Evict Nixon.

In the late 70's and early 80's Vallen became actively involved in the nascent punk rock scene. He produced a myriad of drawings, prints, and paintings based on those experiences. From 1979 to 1980 he worked at Slash Magazine (the West Coast's premier punk publication), producing two cover illustrations for the infamous magazine. He also played a minor role in the production of The Decline of Western Civilization, the punk rock documentary by director Penelope Spheeris.

Vallen has created illustrations for Slash Magazine, the L.A. Weekly, L.A. Reader, California Magazine, The Progressive, Mother Jones, and South End Press. 'More Than A Witness', the artist's first solo exhibit held in Los Angeles at the A Shenere Velt Gallery from July to August 2004, was also a retrospective exhibition that encompassed 30 years of work.

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