RIP MARK MCDEAN

I am absolutely utterly distressed, I just found out that my friend Mark McDean died in his sleep yesterday in Brisbane. I was his Associate Supervisorr for his PhD at Victoria University in 2011 and I worked on a collaborative art project with him called Collisions in 2011. I feel so sad, I haven't seen him since 2012 when we attended the Art Fair in Melbourne together. He was a friend and a face book friend and he had planned to visit me in Melbourne this March. He will be sadly missed. He was a talented artist. I'm sadened very much by the fact that one of his last Face Book posts was that he needed a job because he was feeling lonely in his studio. My condolences to his family and his other friends. I'm still in disbelief.

Stephen Gallagher wrote this on Face Book and I'm sure that he will not mind if I put this here. I quote: 

Mark was active in the Australian art scene, as artist, writer, curator, gallery director. He gave support to many established and emerging artists through his involved in the Midsuma cultural program, leadership on gallery boards and recently his involvement in the Curve Gallery in Newcastle. Always a pleasure to work with and with subtlety Mark was able to combine textiles and fine art with finesse. Mark’s presence would fill a room and transformed many a dinner party into a hoot.

Mark graduated from RMIT with a MA Fine Art by Research in 2000, and spent the more ten years working across a number of institutions including Monash University, RMIT University [Fashion] and [Art] and Victoria University. Mark has an extensive exhibition history including Ian Potter Museum at Melbourne Uni, NGV Fed Square, Sutton Gallery, and QUT Gallery in Brisbane, along with a number of commissioned public art projects. His recent work was some of his best.

Here's a link to the review I wrote of his exhibition Trouble Set Me Free.
Google Analytics has shown that by the 13 February 2014,  2011 people had read this blog post, which shows how much Mark was loved and respected.  There is still no news as to why he died suddenly, but he did have many health complications that may have been a contributing factor.