Mark Kostabi- Spiritual Exodus (2023 Review)

Inspiration.  Where does one get it?  Or where does one find it?   The artist of ‘Spiritual Exodus,’ Mark Kostabi, found his inspiration in the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.  And knowing this, one can see and feel it transpiring in the work. Is it any wonder that great art pieces can be inspired by history and yet keep inspiring others to see their different vision in the same piece…?

THE ARTIST

Mark Kostabi Was inspired to do the piece by the fall of the Berlin Wall.  As a young artist in ’89, he was touched by the movement. Working in the colors, black and blue, of his Estonian forebears, he turned out ‘Spiritual Exodus.’  He moved from his native California 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 and prominently throughout the United States, Japan, Germany, and Australia.