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In
it’s 1974 August issue, this prestigious national entertainment monthly
magazine, After
Dark, dedicated a special tribute focusing on the city
of San Francisco, it’s people and it’s pace setters. It brought
together 72 personalities in this single, one of a kind, monumental issue,
spotlighting luminaries from all areas of journalism and the arts in one
of the most memorable issues of it’s day. |
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This
unique 1974 photo of Mark Mulleian, along with two of his early works, were
shot by west coast photographer John David Hough for After
Dark and was republished through the 70's and 80's in various articles
and on the Internet, now fixed in the pantheon of time. |
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It
is easy to look back to this period as a Golden Age of magic and enchantment,
an age that saw the dawn and demise of the hippie culture. Jimi Hendrix, Janis
Joplin, disco and all the outrageous excesses and innovative ideas of that
period, including the threat of Nixon’s impeachment and the reality of
the end of the Vietnam War. It was also the age of an awakening of the individual
and collective consciousness of the gay movement, as well as the Stonewall
riots, and the assassination of Harvey Milk. It was the best of times and
the worst, but in looking back, it was like a dream that it seemed impossible
to think would ever come to an end. After Dark magazine
was there to document it all, the good the better and the best, a time capsule
of many great names who are no longer with us today. But like all dreams,
it too had to come to an end. In 1983, the last issue of After
Dark was published, and with this, came the end of an era. |
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It
was at the height of that era, on a warm summer's eve, Janis Joplin suddenly
appeared at the Frank Gallery studio, standing motionless, in rapt attention
amidst Mulleian's paintings. Studying both paintings and artist, she eventually
commented on the mysterious energies within the works and expressed wonder at
their technical expression. Ingratiated by her southern-comfort style of silk
and ostrich feathers, lavender and magenta streaking through the air, chiffon
trails floating behind her, she made her majestic way toward the front of the
gallery. She left with a flourish and jaywalked her way through the rush hour
traffic of Sutter Street. |
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It
was during this period, when the After Dark publication
first appeared, that rock star Elton John, along with his partner John Read,
arrived in their limousine at the Frank Gallery and entered Mulleian's exposition,
where they viewed the various works and visited with the artist and his manager
Leonard Roy Frank. After making his way round the entire exhibit, the rock star
returned to the painting that had captured his attention upon first arriving.
He stood transfixed before the work. Noticing John’s focused attention,
Read asked him which painting he liked best, whereupon the rock star pointed
to the piece he’d been studying, thus becoming the owner of Mulleian’s
oil entitled The Pilot Jacket. The subject of the painting
is an aging 1940s-vintage, brown leather jacket with a fir collar. From within
the dark wine-red lining of the jacket, a teary human eye pears out at the observer.
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Many
other celebrities would follow: Beverely Sills, Carlos Santana, Nate Thurmond,
Shirley Temple-Black, William Kunstler, the Three Christy Minstrels, Robert
Shields, Herb Caen, Eric Hoffer, Benjamino Bufano, Ray Taliaferro, Tullah Hanley,
Vicent Price, Thomas S. Szasz, David Garvey. |
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Click
on Image to Enlarge |
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