MARK KOSTABI (1960 - )  

  Artist and Composer Mark Kostabi was born in Los Angeles in 1960 to Estonian immigrants. 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 became a leading figure of the East Village art movement.
He developed a provocative media persona by publishing self-interviews that commented on the commodification of contemporary art. In 1988 he founded Kostabi World - a studio, gallery and office complex known for openly employing painting assistants and idea people. The Mitsukoshi Museum in Tokyo (1992) and the Art Museum of Estonian Tallinn (1998) have held retrospective exhibitions of his work. 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 Corcoran Gallery of Art and the
Groninger Museum in Holland. In 1988 he painted a mural in the Palazzo dei Priori in Arezzo, Italy and completed a commissioned public sculpture To See Through is Not to See Into, for the city of San
Benedetto del Tronto, Italy. Kostabi's music has been performed in New York, Japan, Italy and Estonia by orchestras and soloists including Rein Rannap, Kristjan Jarvi, Maano Manni, the Chamber Staff of the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, and Kostabi himself. His first CD, I Did It Steinway, of solo piano music composed and performed by himself, was released in 1998. Kostabi has designed album covers (Guns 'N' Roses' Use Your Illusion, Ramones' Adios Amigos) and numerous products including a Swatch watch, limited-edition vases, and computer accessories. 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," "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, The Face, Playboy, Forbes, New York Magazine, Domus, Artforum, Art in America, ARTnews, Flash Art and Teme Celeste. Kostabi produces a weekly cable TV show, Inside
Kostabi in Manhattan. Kostabi lectures regularly worldwide and has published seven books, including Sadness Because the Video Rental Store Was Closed, Kostabi: The Early Years and Conversations
with Kostabi. 

BORN 1960
EDUCATION:
1978-81    California State University, Fullerton

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
• 1981
  • California State University, Fullerton
  • Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, California
• 1982
  • Molly Barnes Gallery, Los Angeles
• 1983
  • Limbo Lounge, NYC
• 1984
  • Molly Barnes Gallery, Los Angeles
  • Limbo Lounge, NYC
  • Hal Bromm Gallery, NYC, "Say Less and Say Yes"
  • Semaphore, NYC
  • Lucky Strike, NYC
  • Hal Bromm Gallery, NYC
• 1985
  • Art Awareness, Lexington, NY
  • Nada Gallery, NYC
  • Australian Center for Contemporary Art, Melbourne, Australia
  • Semaphore, NYC, "Amateurs Imitate, Professionals Steal"
  • Eastman-Wahmendorf Gallery, NYC
  • Semaphore & Semaphore East, NYC
  • Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane, Australia
  • Civilisation, NYC
  • Paul Cava Gallery, Philadelphia

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
• 1981
  • Molly Barnes Gallery, Los Angeles, "Zany Cal-Aesthetics"
  • Traction Gallery, Los Angeles, "Ex Libris"
  • Molly Barnes Gallery, Los Angeles, "Art as Gift"
• 1982
  • Wilson Schoool, Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, "Art '82"
  • Barbara Gladstone Gallery, NYC, "A More Store"
• 1983
  • Wilson Gallery, Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, "Art '83"
  • Middle Collegiate Church, NYC, "Resurrection", curators - Steve Whitesell and Joel Handorff
  • Collaborative Projects & W.P.A., The Ritz Hotel, Washington, D.C., "The Ritz"
  • Danceteria, "1000 Balloons", curators - Liz & Val
  • Piezo Electric Gallery, NYC, "The Wild West Show", curator - Carlo McCormick
  • Harm Bouckaert Gallery, NYC, "Saints"
  • Serra Di Felice, NYC
  • ABC No Rio, NYC, "Wish You'd Been Here", curator - Carlo McCormick
  • Center Gallery, Chicago, "Inside Out"
  • Brooklyn Army Terminal, Brooklyn, New York, "Terminal New York"
  • Zippers, NYC, "Artistic Urges"
  • Danceteria, NYC, "Lower East Side Polygon"
  • The International Running Center, NYC, "Marathon: '83"
  • East 7th Street Gallery, NYC, "Underdog"
  • Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, "That Obscure Object of Desire", curator - Barry Blinderman
  • Underground, NYC, "An Evening of Surrealism (Moon Age Daydream), curator - D.D. Chapin
  • White Columns, NYC, "Science and Prophecy", curators - Joel Handorff and Steve Whitesell
  • Limbo Lounge, NYC, "Limbo Lounge Retrospective"
  • Danceteria, NYC, "Science Fair"
  • Jack Tilton Gallery, NYC, "A. More Store"
  • Kamikaze, NYC, "Gracie Mansion Presents"
  • Simone Gallery, NYC, "Mark Kostabi at Simone Gallery"
• 1984
  • Hal Bromm Gallery, NYC, "Climbing"
  • Bess Cutler Gallery, NYC, "Situation", curator - Steve Kaplan
  • P.S. 1, Long Island City, New York, "Limbo, curators - Walter Robinson and Carlo McCormick
  • Hal Bromm Gallery, NYC, "Artists Call Against U.S. Intervention in Central America"
  • Bonnier Gallery, Charles Cowles Gallery, Germans Van Eck Gallery, "Totem", curator - Steve Kaplan
  • Hal Bromm Gallery, NYC, "The Untitled Show"
  • New York Public Library, Tompkins Square Branch, NYC, "Psychology", curator - Bruce Wall
  • Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, California, "10th Street & Avenue B/East Village Art Today"
  • Soho Center for the Visual Arts, NYC, "Four Artists"
  • Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana, "Painting and Sculpture Today"
  • P.S. 1, Long Island City, NYC, "The New Portrait", curator - Jeffrey Deitch
  • Dramatis Personae Gallery, NYC, "Extravaganza"
  • Kamikaze, NYC, "Karnival"
  • Oil and Steel Gallery, NYC, "Creative Time Benefit"
  • 149 Second Avenue, NYC, "A Time Before Morning"
  • Kamikaze, NYC, "Non Con Test"
  • Gallerle Barbara Farber, Amsterdam, Holland, "Summer in New York"
  • Fashion Moda, Bronx, New York, "The Open Show"
  • Danceteria, NYC, "Machine Language"
  • Limbo Lounge, NYC, "Conspiracies"
  • Avenue A, NYC
  • Magic Gallery, NYC, "Hit and Run"
  • Kenkeleba Gallery, NYC, "Chill Out New York", curator - Steve Kaplan
  • Kamikaze, NYC, "Art Disposal Nite"
  • Sensory Evolution Gallery, NYC, "The Acid Test Show"
  • Bette Stoler Gallery, NYC, "Arabesque"
  • 419 Lafayette Street, NYC, "Art & Ego"
  • Center Gallery, Bucknell University , Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, "Contemporary Perspectives - Pop Symbolism"
  • University Art Museum, University of Tennessee/Knoxville, "Drawings"
  • Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, "The East Village Scene", curator - Janet Cardon
  • George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal, NYC, "In the Public Eye"
  • Fashion Moda, Bronx, New York, "Real Politick"
  • Hartwick College, Oneonta, New York, "New York City Artists in 0-Town"
  • New York Public Library, Tomkins Square Branch, NYC, "Bacchanalia"
  • Darinka, NYC, "Dream Logic: Erotic Impulses", curator - Susan Berko
  • Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, "Group Show"
  • Zero One, Los Angeles, "East Infection", curator - Carlo McCormick
  • University of California/Santa Barbara, "Neo York"
  • Zurich, Switzerland, "International Art Fair"
  • Hal Bromm Gallery, NYC, "New Painting"
  • Peter Miller Gallery, Chicago, "Visitors from the East Village"
  • Columbus Museum of Arts & Sciences, Columbus, Georgia, "American Art Now! Painting in the 1980's"
  • Nico Smith, NYC, "Big Show"
  • Zurich, Switzerland, "Zurich Forum"
• 1985
  • Hal Bromm Gallery, NYC, "New Painting"
  • Casa Nada, NYC, "Group Show"
  • Hal Bromm Gallery, NYC, "A Christmas Collection"
  • Now Gallery, NYC, "Micro Art"
  • Limbo Lounge, NYC, "Le Grande Bodegon"
  • New York Public Library, Tompkins Square Branch, NYC, "East/West"
  • Irvine Fine Arts Center, Irvine, California, "The Figure Transformed by Technology"
  • University of Wisconsin/Eau Claire, "New York Art from Semaphore and Semaphore East"
  • Saidye Bronfman Centre, Montreal, Quebec, "East Village At Centre", curated by Katya Arnold
  • The QCC Art Gallery; Queensborough Community College, Bayside, NY;
  • Freedman Gallery, Albright College, Reading, Pennsylvania
  • Marian Locks Gallery, Philadelphia, "The Parodic Power of Popular Imagery", curator - Lenore Malen
  • Silver Limo Gallery, NYC, "Haiti Haiti Tenth Street Today"
  • Semaphore, NYC, "Summer Better Than Others"
  • Semaphore East, NYC, "Works on Paper"
  • Frank Bernaducci Gallery, NYC, "Drawn"
  • Nico Smith Gallery, NYC, "The Monster Show"
  • Kamikaze, NYC, "Zero Gravity"
  • BK. Smith Gallery, Lake Erie College, Painesville, Ohio, "20/20"
  • ABC No Rio, NYC, "Political Art"
  • Kamikaze, NYC, "Tight as Spring"
  • 22 Wooster Gallery, NYC, "Democracy at Work"
  • Rosa Esman Gallery, NYC, "East Village Funktional"
  • St. Mark's Gallery, NYC, "Linus and Friends"
  • Now Gallery, NYC, "Microwave"
  • Eastman-Wahmendorf Gallery, NYC, "Aesthetic Awareness"
  • Tower Gallery, Southhampton, New York, "Avenue C by the Sea"
  • A&P Gallery, NYC
  • Hal Bromm Gallery, NYC, "City Streets"
  • Private Eyes, NYC, "A Strange Mix"
  • Palladium, NYC, "The East Village Art Collection"
  • Civilian Warfare, NYC, "Gettin Off"
  • Kamikaze, NYC, "Too Hot for Summer"
  • Palladium, NYC, "Palladium Open"
  • Kamikaze, NYC, "Artifacts of the Future"
  • Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, South Carolina, "Innocence and Experience", curator - Tom Styron
  • Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, NYC, "Otherland"
  • Wessel O'Conner Gallery, Rome, Italy, "The Discovery of America"
  • No Se No, NYC, "The Rivington School"
  • Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, NYC, "Fashion Moda Benefit"
  • Fernando Vijande Gallery, Madrid, Spain, "Psycho Pueblo"
  • Now Gallery, NYC, "Micro Max"
  • Moosart Gallery and Barbara Gillman Gallery, Miami, Florida, "The Best and the Brightest from the East Village and Soho"
  • First Street Gallery, NYC, "Innocence and Experience", curator - Tom Styron

COMMISSIONS
• 1985
  • Limelight Mural, Chicago
• 1986
  • Bloomingdale's 1986 Shopping Bag

AWARDS
• Proliferation Prize, presented by East Village Eye, August, 1984, p. 32

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
• 1980
  • Kostabi, self-published book Los Angeles Hoffberg, Judith, "Kostabi"; Umbrella, November, p. 129
• 1981
  • Muchnic, Suzanne, "Grins, Grimaces"; Los Angeles Times, July 14, part 4, p. 1
  • Kostabi, self-published book, Los Angeles
  • Hoffberg, Judith, "Kostabi", November
• 1982
  • Christy, George, "The Great Life", The Hollywood Reporter, July 23, p. 23
  • Muchnic, Suzanne, "La Cienega Area, Los Angeles Reporter, July 23, part 6, p. 8
• 1983
  • Raynor, Vivien, "Circles and Age", The New York Times, Sept. 22, p. C24
  • Bomb, Vol.;8, p. 89
  • Raynor, Vivien, review, "Climbing: The East Village", The New York Times, Jan. 27, p. C22
  • Robinson, Walter, "East Village Artists in Amsterdam", East Village Eye Dec./ian., 1983-84, p. 23
• 1984
  • Muchnic, Suzanne, "The Galleries", Los Angeles Times, Jan. 27, p. 2
  • McCormick, Carlo, "An Interview with Mark Kostabi, East Village Eye, p. 32
  • Carr, C., "Art & Artifice in the East Village", Village Voice, April 3, p. 38
  • "An Interview with Mark Kostabi by Everyman", Pan Arts, May, pp. 23, 13
  • Heartney, Eleanor, review, "Totem", ARTnews, May, p. 172
  • McCormick, Carlo, review, New York Beat, May 23, p. 15
  • Krainak, Paul, review, Soho Arts Weekly, May 30, pp. lOB & 11B
  • Appearances, Issue 10, pp. 13, 38-40, 48
  • Robinson, Walter and McCormick Carlo, "Slouching Toward Avenue D", Art in America, Summer, pp. 140 & 157
  • Owens, Craig, "The Problem with Puerilism", Art in America, Summer pp. 162 & 163
  • Smith, Roberta, "East Village Art Wars", Village Voice, July 17, p. 79
  • Bankowsky, Jack, review, East Village Eye, August, p. 37
  • There is Only One Clique and You are the Only One", Paris Review, Issue 92, Summer, pp. 95-101
  • La Palma, Marina & Gardener, Coin, "Mark Kostabi at Molly Barnes , images & Issues, May/June, pp. 46 & 48
  • "Interview with Mark Kostabi by Everyman", Gem Magazine, Issue 2, cover, p. 7
  • Bankowsky, Jack, "Graffiti Grows Up: East Village Galleries", New York Native, Sept. 10-23, p. 24
  • "Mark on Mark", New York Talk, Sept. , p. 41
  • McCormick, Carlo, "The Periphery of Pluralism", The East Village Scene, (catalogue), pp. 48 & 49
  • Mulcahy, Susan, "Deep in the Art of the East Village...", New York Post, Page Six, Oct. 22
  • Sozanski, Edward, "The East Village Scene in Diverse Artistry", The Philadelphia Inquirer, Oct. 16, p. SC
  • Robinson, Waiter, "Mark Kostabi at Hal Bromm", Art in America, Nov., p. 154
  • Heartney, Eleanor, "Mark Kostabi at Hal Bromm", ART news, Dec., p. 156
  • McCormick, Carlo, "The East..Village Scene", (catalogue), Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
  • Hoffman, Randi, "Big Painting Disappears'Without a Trace", The Hoffman Dispatch, Nov. 22 - Dec. 5, p. 1
  • Bankowsky, Jack, "Marginal Effects", New York Natlve, Dec. 17-30, p. 53
  • Neff, M.A., "No Room for Mistakes", Interview, Holiday Issue
  • McCormick, Carlo, "Guide to East Village Artists - New York, Report on a Phenomenon"; (catalogue), University of California/Santa Barbara
• 1985
  • Blinderman, Barry, "Contemporary Perspectives - Pop Symbolism", (catalogue), Bucknell Univeristy, Lewisberg, Pennsylvania
  • "The Parodic Power of Popular Imagery", (catalogue), Bayside, New York
  • Pate, Pattie, "Perceptions of the Figure", Art'Week, Mar. 16, p. 16
  • McGill, Douglas, "For Artists, New Paths to Success", New York Times, April 11, p. C19
  • Spin, June, pp. 17 & 18
  • Spin, July, pp. 58 & 59
  • New York Times, May 13, pp. A18 & A19
  • Brennan, Mark, "Mark Kostabi, Lost Innocence", Manhattan Arts, June, pp. 14-18
  • New York Times, June 17, p. A19
  • New Art Examiner, "Quote of the Month", June, p. 6
  • Yoshida, Koichi, "Mark Kostabi", Illustration (Japan), August, no. 35, pp. 46-49, 60-63
  • O'Beil, Hedy, "Mark Kostabi", Arts, Sept.
  • Heartney, Eleanor, "Mark Kostabi", ARTnews, Sept.
  • Robinson, Waiter, "Mark Kostabi at Hal Bromm", Art in America, Sept.
  • Penn, Amy, "Brushing Up on Young Talent", New York Post, Nov. 8
  • Woolcock, Phyllis, "More than just a salesman", The Australian, Sept. 14
  • Follent, Sarah, "Blank faces fill the bill for look at computer age", The Australian, Sept. 24
  • Mossman, Tam, "Mark Kostabi's Sensuous Syntax", review of show at Cava
  • Rooney, Robert, "Young artists adding zeros to their prices", The Australian, November
  • Rooney, Robert, "USA in Super Rodneyvision", The Australian, Nov. 12
  • Penn, Amy, "Brushing Up On Young Talent", The New York Post, Nov. 8
  • Art & Artists, Nov./Dec., illustration
  • The New York Times
• 1986
  • The New York Times, Jan. 6, illustration
  • Prince, Dinah, "The Royal Brushoff at Palladium", ("Downtown"), Daily News, Jan. 10
  • Jones, Alan, "Class of 1990", New York Talk, Jan.
  • Kohen, "'Focus New York' hails latest in art", The Miami Herald, Jan. 10
  • Art & Artists, Jan./Feb., illustration