Mark Lombardi: Art and Conspiracy

Neo-conceptual artist, Mark Lombardi, created elaborate diagrams detailing the “the uses and abuses of power” in what he called Narrative Structures. One of Lombardi’s most famous Narrative Structures was “George W. Bush, Harken Energy, and Jackson Stephens, ca 1979–90.” This particular diagram drew connections between James Bath and the Bush and Bin Laden families.

Lombardi tragically committed suicide in 2000 at the age of 48. (Though some, like his mother, consider his “suicide” dubious and suspect foul play.)

12 years after his death, a documentary about Lombardi and his art was released. The film, Mark Lombardi: Death-Defying Acts of Art and Conspiracy directed by Mareike Wegener, delves into Lombardi’s painstaking research process, “which filled thousands of note cards and file cabinets.” Wegener sets out to position Lombardi’s art not only within the neo-conceptual framework, but within the “centuries-old traditions of landscape painting.”

However, what’s particularly interesting about Lombardi are not necessarily the conspiracy connections he explored in his work, but the conspiracies surrounding his death, 9/11, and his art.

The synopsis of Mark Lombardi: Death-Defying Acts of Art and Conspiracy reads:

A few weeks after the 9/11, an FBI agent called the Whitney Museum of American Art and asked to see a drawing on exhibit there. The piece was by Mark Lombardi. Just months earlier, the artist was found dead in his studio. Although the official cause of death was documented as a suicide, there have been many doubts. Using just a pencil and a huge sheet of paper, Lombardi had created an intricate pattern of curves and arcs to illustrate the links between global finance and international terrorism.

There’s a lot more to the story than my paltry introduction, but I have yet to see the documentary myself.

Here are some more links for further exploration: