Video by Bella Cole-Preciado

B I O G R A P H Y

Photo by Jeanne Bucher Jaeger

Marco “Mark” Di Suvero was born in Shanghai, China on September 18 1933. In 1941 he emigrated to the U.S. and was raised in San Francisco. He went to the San Francisco City college to study fine arts and philosophy for a year then attended the University of California where he started creating sculptures. In 1956 he received his B.A. in philosophy and moved to New York City to start his career as a sculptor. Four years later he was in a near fatal elevator shaft accident where he had several spinal injuries and was confined to a wheel chair for two years. During his recovery time, he refined his steel working skills. He managed to overcome his injuries and could eventually walk again. In 1971 he left the United States in protest of the Vietnam war and showed his sculptures in Holland and Germany, most of his work was produced in the following decade. His international experience gave the artist insight towards many of his art pieces throughout his career. In 1993 he married a professor at the City university of New York, currently Suvero lives in Queens New York and is an active member in the art world.

S T Y L E

Photo by Hannah Gordon Kirk

Mark di Suvero is seen purely as an Abstract Expressionist. His work is usually monumental and colorful. Even the smaller and more intimate sculptures hold incredible movement. The incorporation of steel, metal, wood, and I-beams show Suvero’s abstract way of using industrial materials and making them into masterful pieces of art.

Mark di Suvero wants viewers to not only look at his art, but also engage with his work. He is known for his monumental and exuberant sculptures, in parks, public plazas, and city centers worldwide. He invites many to touch, climb and submerge oneself into his pieces.

“I’m creating orgasmic space. You don’t know it until you feel it. So, you have to walk inside the piece.”

M I N D S E Y E

‘Mindseye’ is one of Mark Di Survero’s small-scale sculptures. Even though we cannot climb in and be surrounded by the sculpture, viewers are still able to experience its art-into-life energy. Mindseye serves to provide the viewer with an eye that sees all. The structure invites you to focus on the movement within the circular center. Mindseye is made of steel that has been welded and has a height of 53 inches. Mindseye was created in 1978.

Photo by Hannah Gordon-Kirk

Suvero sends a powerful message through his work, he wants his audience to not just look at the art, but to also engage. There is movement within the small perimeter of this sculpture, the artist has successfully shown his balanced artistic ability presented through many of the shapes and forms the sculpture contains. Mindseye was presented as a gift of Virginia and Bagley Wright in 2005. This was to honor Karen W. Morse the President and Sarah Clark-Langager the Curator.

O T H E R   W O R K

Suvero is best known for his work in sculpture pa

Iroquois https://goo.gl/images/XjfJQa

rks. He constructs massive sculptures that are made of various metals and wooden materials.

His two most famous works of art are the Arikidea (1977) in the Walker Art Center & Iroquois (1983) located at the Benjamin Franklin parkway in Philadelphia .

Arikidea https://goo.gl/images/t8hJlb

Created by:

H a n n a h   G o r d o n – K i r k (admin, photographer, other work and biography)

A n a   B a r n e s  (mindseye description)

B e l l a   C o l e – P r e c i a d o (videographer, style, admin assistant)

Video – SFMOMA, youtube.com