The Kiss II

The Kiss II

Cover | Mark Stock

The Kiss II (1992, oil on canvas on masonite). From the collection of Bix Restaurant. Image courtesy of Modernism Inc., San Francisco. Mark Stock’s paintings connect viewers to the euphoria, loneliness and sometimes fatal entanglements of romance. Often melodramatic and tinged with irony, Stock’s images illustrate love’s power to provoke our best—and most illicit—behavior. In Mark Stock Paintings (by Barnaby Conrad III), Stock says he was intrigued by a harlequin clown suit that he bought at a costume shop. Soon after, the naughty clowns showed up in his paintings.  “The clown might be seen as an extension of Chaplin,” says Stock. “But of course there’s a great tradition in European painting, from the clowns of Boucher and Watteau to Picasso’s harlequins.” Stock is represented by Modernism Gallery, 685 Market Street, San Francisco. For further information, call (415) 541-0461 or e-mail info@modernisminc.com.

Faces of the East Bay