Kalev Mark Kostabi is an American artist and composer. He was born in Los Angeles in 1960 to Estonian immigrants, and raised in Whittier, California and is the older brother of musician and artist Paul Kostabi.
Kostabi studied drawing and painting at California State University, Fullerton. In 1982 he moved to New York City and by 1984 he became a leading figure of the East Village art scene. During that time he also developed a provocative media persona by publishing self-interviews which commented on the commodification of contemporary art. By 1987 his works were widely exhibited in New York galleries and prominently 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 was vigorously enhanced.
Kostabi produces a weekly cable TV show, Title This (formerly called Name That Painting), where art critics and celebrities compete to title his paintings for cash awards. Among the participants have been May Pang, Lala Brooks, Michel Gondry, Ornette Coleman, Mark Bego, Randy Jones, Glenn O'Brien, Taylor Mead, Sylvia Miles, Howard Bloom, Ron Saint-Germain, Kembra Phalfer, Gary Indiana, Nicole Eisenman, David Gibson, Max Blagg, Joe Fyfe, Walter Robinson, Bonnie Fuller, Jerry Marotta, Glen Matlock, Tommy Ramone and Victor Bockris. Title This has also featured guest musical appearances by bands such as The Willowz, Uncle Monk, White Denim and The She Wolves. Kostabi writes an advice column for artists, Ask Mark Kostabi, for Artnet.com [1].
He has designed album covers for Guns N' Roses (Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II), The Ramones (Adios Amigos) and Jimmy Scott, (Holding Back the Years) and numerous products including a Swatch watch, limited-edition vases, espresso cups, computer accessories 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, Paul Kostabi and Enrico Baj.
Kostabi has performed music as a soloist and with other musicians including Ornette Coleman, Jerry Marotta, Tony Levin, Puccio Panettieri and Paul Kostabi. His compostions 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 and New Alliance.
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 Corcoran Gallery of Art, The National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome and the Groninger Museum in Holland.
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 life-size bronze sculpture depicting Pope John Paul II in Velletri, Italy.
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, The Face, Playboy, Forbes, New York Magazine, The Sunday Telegraph, Architectural Digest, Domus, Corriere della Sera, Panorama, Eesti Ekspress, Artforum, Art in America, ARTnews, Flash Art, Arte, Arte In and Tema Celeste.
The many books published about Kostabi include Sadness Because the Video Rental Store Was Closed, Kostabi: The Early Years, Conversations with Kostabi, The Rhythm of Inspiration, Mark Kostabi and the East Village Scene 1983-1987 and Mark Kostabi in the 21st Century.
MARK KOSTABI!
Mark Kostabi!
Ornette Coleman and Mark Kostabi on Mark's TV show, TITLE THIS.
http://www.titlethis.com
Jerry Marotta and Mark Kostabi on Mark's TV show, TITLE THIS.
http://www.titlethis.com
Here is a new video of me interpreting Ornette Coleman's Lonely Woman on piano in Rome.
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