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Artist and composer Mark Kostabi was born in Los Angeles in 1960 to Estonian immigrants. Raised in Whittier, California, he studied drawing, painting and music at California State University, Fullerton. Kostabi moved to New York in 1982, and by 1984, emerged as a leading figure in the East Village art scene where he cultivated a provocative media persona by publishing self-interviews reflecting on the commodification of contemporary art. By 1987, his work was widely exhibited in New York galleries as well as prominently throughout the United States, Japan, Germany and Australia. He inspired extensive international press coverage in 1988 when he founded Kostabi World, his Manhattan art studio, which employs numerous painting assistants and idea people. Beginning in the early 1990s Kostabi's work has been widely exhibited throughout Italy. Kostabi established a second home in Rome in 1996. Dividing his time between Rome and New York enabled him to dramatically enhance his presence in the Italian art scene.

Kostabi produces a cable TV show, The Kostabi Show, where noted art critics and celebrities compete to title his paintings for cash awards.

From 2000 to 2010 he wrote an advice column for artists, Ask Mark Kostabi, for Artnet.com.

Kostabi has designed album covers for Guns 'N' Roses (Use Your Illusion) and The Ramones (Adios Amigos), Jimmy Scott (Holding Back The Years), Seether (Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray) and numerous products including a Swatch watch, a Bloomingdales bag, Alessi vases, Rosenthal espresso cups, 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, Paul Kostabi. And Tony Esposito.

Kostabi has performed concerts internationally both as a soloist and with other musicians including Ornette Coleman, Suzanne Vega, Jerry Marotta, Tony Levin, Tony Esposito, Mark Egan, Tommy Campbell, Gerry Brown, Michael Visceglia, John Lee, Paul Kostabi, Greesi Desiree Langovits, Gene Pritsker, David Taylor, William Schimmel, Gene Lake, the Composers Concordance String Orchestra and the Coro Polifonico “S. Francesco d’Assisi” di Terni. His compostions have also been performed independently by Rein Rannap, Kristjan Jarvi, Kathleen Supove, Absolute Ensemble, Maano Manni, Marko Martin, Michael Wolff, Ralf Taal, Delilah Gutman and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. His music has been performed in Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall and the Estonia Concert Hall. His CDs include I Did It Steinway, Songs For Sumera, New Alliance, Kostabeat, Grace Notes, Closer to First and Multiple Bridges.

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 Everyone - Jedermann directed by Paul Tschinkel. Full Circle: The Kostabi Story, directed by Sabrina Digregorio, My Italy, directed by Bruno Colella. Kostabi has a prominent role in the Emmy award winning documentary The Art of Failure: Chuck Connelly Not for Sale directed by Jeff Stimmel.

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). The famous Italian art historian and curator, Vittorio Sgarbi, curated a vast exhibition of 150 Kostabi paintings at the Chiostro del Bramante in Rome in 2006. Kostabi's work is in over 60 permanent museum collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, the National Gallery in Washington D.C., the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, 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, a bronze portrait of Pope John Paul II in Velletri, Italy and large bronze sculpture in Largo Villa Glori, Terni, 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, Between the Keys, 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. 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.In 2021 Kostabi gave a TED Talk in Fermo, Italy which has been translated into numerous languages and is visible on YouTube.

In 2021, Kostabi gave a TED Talk in Fermo, Italy which has been translated into numerous languages and is visible on YouTube.

MARK KOSTABI

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Unframed Size: 36x48

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Unframed Size: 37x49

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KOSTABI AND SATRIANI

Joe Satriani is the world's most commercially successful solo guitar performer, with six gold and platinum discs to his credit, and sales in excess of 10 million copies.

Since September 18, 1970 (the day his idol Jimi Hendrix passed away), Satriani has dedicated himself to the artistry of the instrument. Satriani's reputation was already growing in guitar circles when in 1987, he broke through to the masses with his second studio full-length album, "Surfing With The Alien", a massive seller (it hit No. 29 on the Billboard 200) that included the radio hits "Satch Boogie" and the title track.

As a live performer, Satriani has toured the world with each new release. In 1993, he joined Deep Purple as a temporary replacement for Ritchie Blackmore during a Japanese tour. Starting in 2009, Satriani traversed the globe again as a member of Chickenfoot. The all-star band (which also includes singer Sammy Hagar, former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith) has issued two albums, their debut and 2011's follow-up, "Chickenfoot III".

Satriani's solo discography includes a host of classics, including 1989's "Flying in a Blue Dream", "The Extremist" from 1992, "Is There Love in Space?" (2004) and 2010's "Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards". His 15 Grammy nominations have been for songs such as "Always With Me, Always With You," "The Crush Of Love," and "Summer Song," as well as full albums like "Surfing With The Alien", "The Extremist" and "Super Colossal".

Satriani has appeared in motion pictures such as Christopher Guest's 2006 release, "For Your Consideration", and the 2011 Brad Pitt film, "Moneyball". Through the years, he has designed and endorsed guitars, amplifiers and effects pedals for Ibanez, Marshall and Vox. His JS Series of guitars through Ibanez has been one of the company's most popular and consistent sellers.

As a visual artist, Satriani released his first collection, "Radiant Collection," in the summer of 2019 with "Radiant Echoes Collection" following closely in 2020, both receiving both critical and fan praise. The first two collections were created in part from Joe's performance on the fretboard. He utilized a glove developed by SceneFOUR that uses light to chronicle his movement on the fretboard and translate it into abstract artwork before taking the canvases back to his home studio and adding paint. These original canvases caught the eye of Wentworth Gallery and Satriani began to develop one-of-a-kind works for art showings. In addition to the many 'space' themed pieces he presents, Satriani also showcases his highly sought-after hand painted guitars that he has been modifying for years. This is Satriani's first foray into the world of a touring visual artist and painter.