马克‧渥林格1959年生于英国奇格韦尔，1977-8年就读艾塞克斯劳顿学院，其后就读伦敦切尔西艺术学院(1978-81)及伦敦金匠学院(1983-5)。1995年获「特纳奖」提名，2007年荣获该奖项。1998年获罗马英国学校之「亨利‧摩尔奖学金」，并于2001年参与德国学术交流中心国际艺术家项目。同年代表英国参加第四十九届威尼斯双年展。渥林格现于伦敦生活和工作。
渥林格的作品具有广泛的感染力。他的早期创作，反映其植根于英国左派的思想传统。1995年获提名「特纳奖」的作品，是建基于渥林格对赛马的兴趣，主要因为赛马象征着英国社会根深蒂固的阶级、血统等观念。这作品是一匹活生生的竞赛马(这匹马在纽马基特受过训练，但只出赛一场就受了伤)，被艺术家取名为《一件真正的艺术品》(1994)，延续了杜象式现成品的概念。从广义来看，作品也是对二十世纪末的英国身份，包括其历史神话、传统、仪式及社会制度的一种讽刺。
英国皇家阿斯科特赛马是世界最著名的赛马盛事之一，每年都会举办，以其皇室排场与传统闻名于世。渥林格的作品《皇家阿斯科特赛马》(1994)，展示英国皇室成员坐在漂亮的马车中，带领仪仗队出巡的场面，国歌高奏，盛况空前。但渥林格把连续几天不同的巡游录像，不断重复播放在四个并排的显示屏上，立即突显了僵化的巡游仪式和皇室成员机械化的姿态。虽然主角的服饰不同，但仪式的荒谬、英国皇室仪仗队的刻意求工，均表露无遗。在四个并列的航空箱上放置显示屏，更加强了对皇室巡游矫揉造作的讽刺。
2008年，作为五名候选艺术家之一的渥林格，参加在英格兰东南部艾浦斯福里所举办的公共雕塑比赛，为该区活化计划的一部份。他的设计在2009年获选，作品是一匹高五十米的纯种赛驹巨型雕塑。
近期个展包括：安东尼‧雷诺斯画廊(伦敦，2010)；加里亚．格包亚画廊(柏林，2010）；亚劳艺术博物馆（瑞士，2008）；「不列颠王国」(泰特英国美术馆，伦敦；当奴‧杨格画廊，芝加哥，2007)；国家美术馆（布拉格，2006）；卡里劳．基尔艺术博物馆（墨西哥城，2005）。渥林格亦曾参与大型联展，其中包括：「感觉：萨奇英国青年艺术家藏品」展(伦敦、柏林、纽约，1997-9)；第五届伊斯坦堡双年展（1997）。
Mark Wallinger was born in Chigwell, England in 1959. He studied at Loughton College, Essex, 1977-8; Chelsea School of Art, London, 1978-81, and finally at Goldsmiths College, London, 1983-5. Wallinger was nominated for the Turner Prize in 1995, and won the award in 2007. He was awarded a Henry Moore Fellowship at the British School in Rome, 1998. In 2001, he undertook a DAAD International Artists Programme, Berlin and represented Britain at the 49th Venice Biennale. Wallinger lives and works in London.
Wallinger’s works have a broad appeal. His early works reflected his roots in the tradition of British left-wing thought. For the Turner Prize exhibition in 1995, his work took his interest in horse racing as a metaphor for the British fixation with class and breeding. He extended the Duchampian idea of the ready made to include an actual race horse named by the artist A Real Work of Art (1994) (the horse was trained in Newmarket but ran only one race before being injured). Yet on a more general level, his work can also be read as a satire of the late twentieth century British identity: its historical myths, traditions, ceremonies and social systems.
Royal Ascot, one of the most famous and exclusive horse races in the world, takes place every year and is renowned for its royal pageantry and tradition. In Wallinger’s work entitled Royal Ascot (1994), the artist presents the British Royal Family’s processions during this event in their stunning horse-drawn carriages whilst the national anthem is being played, ceremony at its finest. Yet here he has taken footage from several processions from consecutive days and has looped these to play on four monitors. The repetition of the event brings to light its highly ritualised aspect as well as the mechanical gestures of the Royal Family. Despite the protagonists’ changing outfits, Wallinger brings to light the absurdity of customs, and the highly constructed nature of British pageantry. The work is displayed on four flight cases in a procession, as a satire on the highly artificial nature of the Royal procession.
In 2008, Wallinger was one of the five artists shortlisted for a competition to create a public sculpture in Ebbsfleet, south east England, as part of the regeneration of the area. His proposal to construct a 50-metre high recreation of a thoroughbred racehorse won the competition in 2009.
Selected recent solo exhibitions include: Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London, Carlier Gebauer, Berlin, 2010; Kunstmuseum Aarau, Switzerland, 2008; State Britain, Tate Britain, London, Donald Young Gallery, Chicago, 2007; National Gallery, Prague, 2006; Museo de Arte Carillo Gil, Mexico City, 2005. In addition, Wallinger’s work was included in major group exhibitions such as Sensation: Young British Artists from the Saatchi collection, London, Berlin and New York, 1997-9, and the 5th Istanbul Biennale, 1997.