Moldovan artist Mark Verlan's funeral procession in Chișinău reflects his self-contained artistic universe

Moldovan artist Mark Verlan died of a heart attack in Chișinău on the eve of the new year at age 57. His funeral on January 4, 2021, was a motorized procession to the Armenian Cemetery, organized by friends after state cultural institutions denied him recognition. The ceremony featured his green banner depicting a meditating black cat, which had previously led a 1995 public funeral for a one-legged Barbie doll in Chișinău. Verlan, also known as Marioka Son of Rain, created a self-sufficient artistic universe with its own currency, flag, coat of arms, and language, independent of political regimes. He attended the Ilya Repin school of art in Kishinev and was documented by the Soros Center for Contemporary Art (later KSA:K). His work included motifs of cats, dogs, and unconventional depictions of Lenin, often with cannabis or Buratino. He lived without real estate, moving between homes provided by admirers, and never cultivated a CV or portfolio. Curator Harald Szeemann once planned a solo exhibition for him before Szeemann's death. Verlan's art resisted categorization as outsider art, operating outside both socialist and market-democratic frameworks.