In the documentary “Peacelands/Mark Anthony Mulligan,” Mark Anthony Mulligan depicted a brick building and added, “Wood will easily collapse when a wind storm arrives.”
Mark Anthony Mulligan, a folk musician, composer, and inspiration from Louisville, was eager to join whether there was music to be sung, a smile to be shared, or ears to listen. Mulligan, a stalwart of Bardstown Road, passed away on Monday, November 28, at the age of 59. He was receiving treatment at the Wedgewood Healthcare Center in Clarksville, which provides geriatric care, short-term recuperation, and rehabilitation.
Mulligan, who was raised primarily on the streets of Louisville or in care institutions and hospitals, was born there. Mulligan faced additional difficulties as a result of a number of diagnoses, but he was a resilient person who over time amassed a devoted following of admirers and friends. If you lived close to the Highlands or Bardstown Road region, you almost certainly ran into Mulligan at some point. Mulligan offered brightness and kindness wherever he went with his distinctively broad grin, sparkling eyes, and swinging arms.
Mulligan brought his artwork to Chuck Swanson, owner of the gallery, in the early 2000s, and Swanson assisted Mulligan in finding exhibitions for his work. According to artist Al Gorman in the “Peacelands/Mark Anthony Mulligan” documentary, Swanson represented Mulligan through his gallery for more than ten years. Swanson and Gorman were coworkers at the time. Before Mulligan found representation with Swanson, many Louisville galleries rejected him.
His remarkable ability to notice and understand his surroundings both as they were and as he needed them to be for expressing his message is evident in Mulligan’s most well-known paintings, which all feature dense cityscapes. He frequently infused his drawings with aspects of his own personality. He was fiercely funny and deeply devout. His works usually used made-up street and business names that expressed his sensibility. The skill and conceptualization in his works, despite their obvious folkiness, are comparable to those of renowned artist Jacob Lawrence or fellow Kentuckian Helen La France. Similar to La France, Mulligan’s work frequently straddled the line between “folk” and “art,” with strong interpretive elements.
His creative output occasionally included poems, games, and portraits.
Mulligan was given a COVID diagnosis and put on a ventilator in 2021. He was able to get off the ventilator, but he was nowhere to be found on Bardstown. At Wedgewood, Mulligan spent his last days. Numerous brothers, nieces, nephews, and a city full of people who knew him and will feel his absence remain in his life.
Before it was officially verified, news of Mulligan’s death sparked well wishes and tributes on social media. Here are a few tributes to this extraordinary person.