Obituaries : Mark Niblock-Smith; Artist Examined AIDS

Mark Niblock-Smith, a Los Angeles artist known for his AIDS-related public artworks as well as his more intimate studio work, died at his Los Angeles home Saturday of complications from AIDS. He was 35.

Niblock-Smith, who received a diagnosis that he was HIV-positive in 1986, was recently featured in a spate of art exhibitions, including “LAX: The Los Angeles Exhibition” at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery in December, as well as shows in the past year at the Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, El Camino College, Orange Coast College, Long Beach Community College, Fullerton’s Muckenthaler Cultural Center, the Art Works in Riverside and the Vignes Building downtown.

A show of his recent “objects”--sculptures and assemblages based on his personal experiences--is currently on view at Santa Monica’s Ruth Bloom Gallery through March 13, and he is one of 10 North American artists whose work will be included in the International AIDS Exhibition in May at the Henie-Onstad Art Center at Oslo, Norway.

“Mark was an extraordinary artist who had an ability to give to the art viewing public a real view into the inner soul of the artist that you don’t normally see,” said Jeffrey Herr, a Municipal Art Gallery curator who worked with Niblock-Smith on “LAX.” “We really have an interrupted life here. . . . He was doing something that was completely unique in and of itself to what other artists are doing. If he had worked for another 10 or 20 years, or the normal life span of an artist, I think you could have compared him to any artist.”

Niblock-Smith was born in Springfield, Ill., and moved to Los Angeles in 1980. He received his BFA from Otis/Parson’s Art Institute in 1984 and his MFA from California Institute of the Arts in 1987. He had received grants for his AIDS-related public art projects from the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department and Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions.

He is survived by his life partner of 10 years, Roger Workman, and his sister, Sheri Thompson of Whittier.

Memorial services will be held at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena on March 6 at 1 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to Otis School of Art and Design at 2401 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, 90057.