Mark Kostabi

Mark Kostabi
Mark Kostabi
Birth name	Kalev Mark Kostabi
Born	November 27, 1960 (1960-11-27) Los Angeles, CA, California
Nationality	American
Field	Painting, Sculptor, Composer
Training	Studied at California State University, Fullerton

Art curator Baird Jones and artist Mark Kostabi in New York City, March 2003

Kalev Mark Kostabi (born November 27, 1960) is an American artist and composer.

Early life

Mark Kostabi was born in Los Angeles on November 27, 1960 to Estonian immigrants Kaljo and Rita Kostabi.^[1] He was raised in Whittier, California and studied drawing and painting at California State University, Fullerton. In 1982 he moved to New York and by 1984 he became a prominent figure of the East Village art scene, winning the "Proliferation Prize" from the East Village Eye for being in more art exhibitions than any other New York artist.

He writes an advice column for artists, "Ask Mark Kostabi," for Artnet.com.

Artwork

Kostabi has designed album covers for Guns 'N' Roses (Use Your Illusion) and The Ramones (¡Adios Amigos!), Seether Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray, Jimmy Scott (Holding Back The Years), Glint (Sound in Silence), RK: Roman Klun (Kingsway), Psychotica (Espina) and numerous products including a Swatch watch, Alessi vases, Rosenthal espresso cups, Ritzenhoff milk glasses, and a Giro d'Italia pink jersey.

Kostabi is also known for his many collaborations with other artists including Enzo Cucchi, Arman, Howard Finster, Tadanori Yokoo, Enrico Baj and Paul Kostabi.

Retrospective exhibitions of Kostabi's paintings have been held at the Mitsukoshi Museum in Tokyo (1992) and the Art Museum of Estonia in Tallinn (1998). Kostabi's work is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, the National Gallery in Washington D.C., the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Yale University Art Gallery the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome and the Groninger Museum in Holland.

His work was published on the cover of the book East Village '85 published by Pelham Press and his paintings were included prominently in numerous East Village shows in museums and galleries internationally. Matteo Editore published a book on Kostabi titled Mark Kostabi and the East Village scene 1983–1987 written by Baird Jones. During the mid 1980s he developed a media persona by publishing self-interviews which commented on the commodification of contemporary art. In 1986 Kostabi designed the Bloomigdales shopping bag. By 1987 his works were widely exhibited in New York galleries and throughout the United States, in Japan, Germany and Australia.

In 1988, inspiring extensive international press coverage, he founded Kostabi World, his large New York studio known for openly employing numerous painting assistants and idea people. In 1996 be began dividing his time between New York and Rome and consequently his work's already strong presence in the Italian art scene became much more prominent. The influential Italian critic and curator Achille Bonito Oliva, included Kostabi in several major exhibitions including at the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte di Roma. The controversial critic, curator and TV personality, Vittorio Sgarbi, curated a 150 painting Kostabi show at the Chiostro del Bramante in Rome in 2006.

His permanent public works include a mural in Palazzo dei Priori in Arezzo, Italy, a large bronze sculpture in the central square of San Benedetto del Tronto, Italy, and a bronze portrait of Pope John Paul II in Velletri, Italy.

Music

Kostabi has performed music as a soloist and with other musicians including Ornette Coleman, Jerry Marotta, Tony Levin, Tony Esposito, Stefano di Battista, Olen Cesari, Aaron Comess, Richard Hammond, Amedeo Ariano, Marco Siniscalco, Stefano Nunzi, Puccio Panettieri, Pat Daugherty, Roman Klun and Paul Kostabi. His compositions have also been performed independently by Rein Rannap, Kristjan Järvi, Maano Männi, Delilah Gutman and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. His CDs include I Did It Steinway, Songs For Sumera, New Alliance and "The Spectre of Modernism".

Media/cable/TV/film

Kostabi has been profiled on 60 Minutes, Eye to Eye with Connie Chung, A Current Affair, Nightwatch (with Charlie Rose), The Oprah Winfrey Show, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, Nonsolomoda, West 57th, CNN, MTV and numerous television programs throughout Europe and Japan. In print he has been featured in The New York Times, People, Vogue, Architectural Digest, The Face, Playboy, Forbes, New York Magazine, The Sunday Telegraph, Domus, Corriera Della Sera, Panorama, Artforum, Art in America, ARTnews, Flash Art, Arte, Arte In and Tema Celeste.

Kostabi is the subject of numerous documentary films, most notably Bottom Line: The Kostabi Phenomenon directed by Peter Bach, Con Artist directed by Michael Sladek and Jedermann directed by Paul Tschinkel. Kostabi has a prominent role in the Emmy award winning documentary The Art of Failure: Chuck Connelly Not for Sale directed by Jeff Stimmel. A new documentary, "Full Circle: The Kostabi Story", directed by Sabrina Digregorio for Atena Films, is in production and scheduled for release in late 2011.

Kostabi produces a weekly cable TV show, The Kostabi Show, where noted art critics and celebrities compete to title his paintings for cash awards. The Kostabi Show was previously known as both Name That Painting and Title This. Contestants on The Kostabi Show have included: Michel Gondry, Ornette Coleman, Suzanne Vega, Bela Fleck, Amos Poe, Glenn O'Brien, Glen Matlock, Tommy Ramone, Nicole Eisenman, Carlo McCormick, Walter Robinson, Gary Indiana, Victor Bockris, Dennis Oppenheim, Sylvia Miles, Taylor Mead, Robin Cembalest, Jaclyn Santos,Randy Jones, Molly Barnes and David Coggins.

Literature

• Mark Kostabi (self published), "Kostabi", 1980.
• Pelham Press and Mark Kostabi, "Upheaval", 1985, First edition 2,000 copies.
• Strother/Elwood Arts: "Office Suite" Mark Kostabi, 1986, ISBN: 0-940515-00-8, First edition 2,000 copies.
• Abbeville Press, "Sadness Because the Video Rental Store Was Closed & Other Stories", 1988, ISBN: 0-89659-800-4.
• Vanity Press, "Kostabi: The Early Years", 1990, ISBN: 0-9628366-0-5.
• Martin Lawrence Limited Editions, Inc., "Kostabi One Hundred +", 1992, ISBN: 0-929460-11-1.
• Journey Editions, "Conversations with Kostabi", 1996, ISBN: 1-885203-25-X.
• Martin Lawrence Limited Editions, Inc., "The Poetry of Silence", 1998, ISBN: 0-929460-12-X.

Others include: The Rhythm of Inspiration, Mark Kostabi and the East Village Scene 1983–1987 and Mark Kostabi in the 21st Century.

References

1. ^ Kossar, Kristel (2004-08-14). "Kolmemõõtmeline Kalev Mark Kostabi" (in Estonian). Postimees. http://www.postimees.ee/170804/lisad/arter/141722.php. Retrieved 27 May 2010. 

External links

• [1] Official Mark Kostabi website
• [2] The Kostabi Show website
• [3] Con Artist website
• [4] Innsbruck Records website, Mark Kostabi page
• [5] Jedermann movie trailer, Kostabi documentary
• [6] Ornette Coleman and Mark Kostabi live music performance, duet
• [7] Kostabi's Commode Confessional
• [8] Interview with Michael Sladek, director of the Kostabi documentary: Con Artist
• [9] Trailer for documentary film, FULL CIRCLE: THE KOSTABI STORY, directed by Sabrina Digregorio.

Persondata
Name	Kostabi, Mark
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	27 November 1960
Place of birth	Los Angeles, CA, California
Date of death
Place of death