{{Short description|British artist (1964–2025)}} {{Infobox artist | name = Mark Pawson | birth_date = 1964 | birth_place = Strood, Kent, England | death_date = 2025 | known_for = Artist's books, zines, mail art, DIY publishing | notable_works = ''Die-Cut Plug Wiring Diagram Book'' }}
'''Mark Pawson''' (1964–2025) was a British artist known for his prolific output of handmade ephemera, artist's books, zines, badges, and prints. A self-described "image junkie"<ref name="Noble">{{cite book |last1=Noble |first1=Ian |last2=Bestley |first2=Russell |title=Experimental Layout - Design Fundamentals |date=25 January 2002 |publisher=RotoVision |isbn=9782880466107}}</ref> and "photocopier fetishist," Pawson was a central figure in the UK’s DIY art scene and mail art movement, celebrated for his innovative use of low-tech printing methods and his commitment to accessible, affordable art.<ref name="Foakes">{{cite web |last1=Foakes |first1=Kevin |title=RIP Mark Pawson |url=https://www.djfood.org/rip-mark-pawson/ |website=DJ Food |date=4 March 2025 |access-date=21 August 2025}}</ref><ref name="Book Arts Newsletter">{{cite journal |title="Announcements: Cover of this issue: Mark Pawson 1964 - 2025" |journal=Book Arts Newsletter |date=April–June 2025 |issue=166 |pages=68–71 |url=https://www.bookarts.uwe.ac.uk/pdf/newspdfs/166.pdf |access-date=24 August 2025}}</ref>
== Early life and education == Mark Pawson was born in Strood, Kent, England. England, in 1964. His parents June Illingworth and David Pawson moved to Lymm, Cheshire, where he and his brother Daniel and sister Frances were raised. Pawson attended Lymm Grammar School before studying sociology at City University, graduating in 1986.<ref name="fargaurd">{{cite news |last1=Farhall |first1=Mark |title=Mark Pawson obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/mar/28/mark-pawson-obituary |access-date=6 September 2025 |work=The Guardian |date=28 March 2025}}</ref> He moved to East London in 1982 and remained based there throughout his life.<ref name="Penney" /> Pawson did not attend art school, instead developing his practice independently through experimentation and participation in underground art networks.
== Career == Pawson discovered mail art in 1980 at the age of 17.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pawson |first1=Mark |title="Growing Up In The Post Or Raised By Mail Artists" |journal=New Observations |date=Summer 2000 |issue=126}}</ref> He cited Ray Johnson as an influence on his deep involvement with the international mail art network.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jones |first1=Jonathan |title=A delivery of post modernism: mail art today |url=https://archive.org/details/TheGuardian1996UKEnglish/Jan%2020%201996%2C%20The%20Guardian%2C%20%23210%2C%20UK%20%28en%29/page/18/mode/1up?q=%22mark+pawson%22 |access-date=21 August 2025 |work=The Guardian International |date=20 January 1996}}</ref> He began producing artist's books and multiples in the mid-1980s. His work often incorporated recycled materials, rubber stamps, photocopies, and the Japanese Print Gocco system.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bodman |first1=Sarah |title=Books by artists |journal=The Art Book |date=March 2000 |volume=7 |issue=2 |page=25 |doi=10.1111/1467-8357.00191 }}</ref> He was known for organizing “free-stuff” parties<ref name="Gómez" /><ref>{{cite web |last1=Szczelkun |first1=Stefan |title=The Dark Arts |url=https://www.metamute.org/editorial/articles/dark-arts |website=Mute |date=15 February 2012 |access-date=21 August 2025}}</ref> and producing humorous, satirical stickers and badges.<ref name="Hoff">{{cite journal |last1=Hoff |first1=James |title="James Hoff on Mark Pawson's The Address Is The Art" |journal=Art on Paper |date=November–December 2006 |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=37–38 |jstor=24556455 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24556455 |access-date=24 August 2025}}</ref><ref name="Penney" /> The author of ''Badge Button Pin'' stated that:
{{Blockquote |text="If it contained no work by Mark Pawson, the present volume would be like a book on Italian Renaissance art that makes no mention of Leonardo Da Vinci."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lucas |first1=Gavin |title=Badge Button Pin |date=2007 |publisher=Laurence King Publishing |isbn=978-1856694094}}</ref>}}
Bookmaker Erica Van Horne stated:
{{Blockquote|text="Over the last thirty years Simon [Cutts] and I did a huge number of book-making workshops. We also made numerous talks and presentations about Coracle books, and about producing and publishing books in general. We never did a presentation without mentioning Mark Pawson."<ref name="Book Arts Newsletter" />}}
Pawson's notable publications include: * ''Small Plastic Babies'' (1987)<ref name="Gómez" /> * ''Mark's Little Book About Kinder Eggs'' (1989), which he self-published over 6,000 copies of.<ref name="Penney">{{cite journal |last1=Penney |first1=Bridget |last2=Holman |first2=Paul |title=Mark Pawson obituary |journal=Art Monthly |date=April 2025 |issue=485 |page=22}}</ref><ref name="Aitch">{{cite news |last1=Aitch |first1=Iain |title=Hot stuff |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2005/may/11/art |access-date=24 August 2025 |work=The Guardian |date=11 May 2005}}</ref> * ''Eco-frenzy; recycling and ecology symbols '' (1992) * ''Clip-on Plastic Moustaches'' (1992) * ''Die-Cut Plug Wiring Diagram Book'' (1992)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tyson |first1=Ian |title=Facing the Page: British Artists' Books: a Survey 1983-1993 |date=1993 |publisher=Estamp |isbn=9781871831115 |pages=58–59}}</ref> * ''The Address Is The Art'' (2003) an artist's book comprising envelopes Pawson had received in the mail over the course of two decades.<ref name="Hoff" />
Pawson collaborated with brands such as Tatty Devine<ref>{{cite web |last1=Fox |first1=Satu |title=Art listings November 9-15 2009 |url=https://ameliasmagazine.com/art/art-listings-november-9-15/2009/11/09/ |website=Amelia's Magazine |access-date=21 August 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Lucas |first1=Gavin |title=Give Me A Sign |url=https://www.creativereview.co.uk/give-me-a-sign/ |website=Creative Review |date=3 November 2008 |access-date=21 August 2025}}</ref> and Levi’s Vintage Clothing,.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pawson |first1=Mark |title=Never throw anything away, EVER |journal=Art Libraries Journal |date=April 2016 |volume=41 |issue=2 |pages=127–131 |doi=10.1017/alj.2016.13 }}</ref> He supplied the cover illustration for the December 1996 issue of ''Creative Review'' and was the subject of a four page article.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Pawson's Mark |journal=Creative Review |date=December 2006 |pages=42–46}}</ref> From 1998 to 2012 he contributed a comics and zines review column for ''Variant'' magazine.<ref>{{cite web |title=Variant magazine archive |url=https://variant.org.uk/oldindex.html |website=Variant |access-date=21 August 2025}}</ref>
In 2018, Pawson collaborated with Jess Baines and Tony Credland on "Doing it ourselves: countercultural and alternative radical publishing in the decade before punk." which was published as a chapter in an anthology of works about fanzines by Manchester University Press.<ref>{{cite book |last1=The Subcultures Network |title=Ripped, Torn and Cut: Pop, politics and punk fanzines from 1976 |date=2018 |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=978-1-5261-2059-5 |pages=15–38 |edition=1}}</ref>
== Exhibitions == Pawson exhibited widely in the UK and internationally. Notable exhibitions include:
* ''Untitled'', an installation in which mail received by Pawson was pasted onto the walls of his London home from June 1987 - September 1988.<ref>{{cite web |title=Illustrations: Poster for Untitled |url=https://artpool.hu/MailArt/chrono/1987/Untitled.html#text |website=Mail Art Chronology |access-date=21 August 2025}}</ref> * A joint show with Ben Allen at Transmission Gallery in Glasgow (1990).<ref>{{cite book |title=The 1990 Story: Glasgow Cultural Capital of Europe |date=1992 |publisher=Glasgow City Council |isbn=0-901557-77-3 |page=16 |url=https://catalogus.boekman.nl/pub/95-428b.pdf |access-date=21 August 2025}}</ref> * ''No New Work'' a retrospective at Last Chance Saloon, London (1999)<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Phillpot |first1=Clive |title=All Things Lowbrow |journal=Art Monthly |date=September 1999 |issue=229 |page=45}}</ref> * ''Metropolis Rise: New Art from London'' at 798 Space, Beijing (2006)<ref>{{cite web |title=Metropolis Rise: New Art from London |url=https://www.e-flux.com/announcements/41411/metropolis-rise-new-art-from-london |website=e-flux |access-date=21 August 2025}}</ref> * ''Not Quite Disney'' at Jealous Gallery, London (2024)<ref name="Archer">{{cite web |last1=Archer |first1=Magda |title=Remembering Mark Pawson |url=https://jealousgallery.com/blogs/news/remembering-mark-pawson?srsltid=AfmBOoriwk-xiTDmOFzPIHmbsuhPmD_Nm2RaifxhTV4GLcSlKyujaZwL |website=Jealous Gallery |date=14 March 2025 |access-date=21 August 2025}}</ref>
== Legacy == Pawson's work is held in major collections including: * British Museum, London<ref>{{cite web |title=Mark Pawson profile and related objects |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG218934 |website=British Museum |access-date=21 August 2025}}</ref> * Tate Gallery Library, London<ref name="Art Rabbit">{{cite web |title=Exhibition Mark Pawson - Unboxing 8 Jun 2013 – 30 Jun 2013 |url=https://www.artrabbit.com/events/mark-pawson-unboxing |website=Art Rabbit |access-date=21 August 2025}}</ref> * National Art Library at the V&A<ref>{{cite web |title=Victoria and Albert Museum: Mark Pawson |url=https://nal-vam.on.worldcat.org/search?queryString=au%3D%22Pawson%2C%20Mark%22&clusterResults=false&groupVariantRecords=false&bookReviews=off |website=Victoria and Albert Museum |access-date=21 August 2025}}</ref> * University of the Arts, London<ref>{{cite web |title=University Archives and Special Collections Centre |url=https://archives.arts.ac.uk/Calmview/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=LCO%2f1%2f8%2f108 |website=UAL |access-date=21 August 2025}}</ref> * Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead<ref>{{cite web |title=Baltic Archive |url=https://archive.baltic.art/search/Mark%20Pawson |website=Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art |access-date=21 August 2025}}</ref> * MoMA Library, New York<ref name="Art Rabbit" /> * Yale Center for British Art, Connecticut<ref>{{cite web |title=YCBA Collections Online |url=https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/?f[loc_naf_author_ss][]=Pawson,%20Mark |website=Yale Center for British Art |access-date=21 August 2025}}</ref> * Private collection of Björk
== Death == Mark Pawson died of a heart attack in March 2025 at the age of 60.<ref name="fargaurd"/> He was widely mourned in the art community, with tributes highlighting his generosity, humor, and influence on generations of DIY and mail artists.<ref name="Gómez">{{cite web |last1=Gómez |first1=Edward M. |title=A Fond Remembrance of Mark Pawson, an Artist With a Mischievous — and Deeply Humanistic — Vision |url=https://brutjournal.com/article/london-a-fond-remembrance-of-mark-pawson-an-artist-with-a-mischievous-and-deeply-humanistic-vision/ |website=Brut Journal |access-date=21 August 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Mark Pawson - Mail Art Superstar |url=https://iuoma-network.ning.com/m/group?id=2496677%3AGroup%3A2974592&maxDate=2025-03-10T08%3A23%3A16.817Z |website=International Union of Mail Artists |access-date=21 August 2025}}</ref><ref name="Book Arts Newsletter" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [https://www.markpawson.uk Official website] * [http://archive.org/stream/VariantIssue7/V7_All#page/n5/mode/2up "The Mailart Network; Communication, Participation, Play"] - an essay by Mark Pawson in ''Variant'' 7 (Winter 1998/Spring 1999), pp 9–12. * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWkqobNgRRM Read and Destroy - The Books of Mark Pawson (2005)] - a short film by Sara Jackson. * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0V7ez5UP1w Mark Pawson on his 1980s mail art archive (2020)] - a short film by Printed Matter, Inc. {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pawson, Mark}} Category:1964 births Category:2025 deaths Category:Artists from Cheshire Category:Book artists Category:People from Lymm Category:People from Strood Category:Alumni of City, University of London Category:People educated at Lymm High School