Graphics exhibition "Baltic Passion" by Mark Kostabi

"With this exhibition of prints, I happily return to Estonia where I made my debut over 30 years ago. When I first laid eyes on the beautiful restaurant in hotel "Victoria", about one year ago, I immediately dreamed of having an exhibition there. And when I saw their piano, I truly felt at home and wished to perform there within the exhibition, as a follow-up to my exhibition at the nearby Pärnu New Art Museum last summer. This time I’m sharing my passion for the printmaking process which allows me to share my universal language of faceless figures to a much larger audience." - Mark Kostabi

Mark Kostabi (1960) was born in Los Angeles, California to Estonian parents. In 1982 he moved to New York and soon became a prominent figure in the East Village art scene and interacted with icons like Andy Warhol and Jean Michel Basquiat.

Kostabi is most known for his paintings of faceless figures which often comment on contemporary political, social and psychological issues and for creating Kostabi World, his controversial studio known for employing scores of assistants.

Kostabi’s artwork currently appears 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 Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome, the Groninger Museum in Holland and KUM in Tallinn.

Kostabi has also designed album covers for Guns N' Roses (Use Your Illusion), The Ramones (¡Adios Amigos!) and several others.

His famous collectors range from Bill Clinton to Luciano Pavarotti and include notable celebrities and dignitaries like Lou Reed, Suzanne Vega, Brooke Shields, Axl Rose, Debbie Harry, Billy Wilder, Sylvester Stallone, Bill Gates, Aaron Spelling, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and many others.

His life and work have been featured in numerous magazines and tv shows.

Kostabi is also an accomplished musician and has performed his musical compositions as a soloist and with other musicians including Ornette Coleman, Jerry Marotta, Tony Levin, Stefano di Battista, Gene Pritsker, Mark Egan, Lukas Ligeti, Dave Taylor, Chris Parker, Tony Esposito, Salvatore Flauto, Tommy Campbell, Gerry Brown, Lara St. John, John Clark, Greesi Desiree Langovits, Adam Holzman, Aaron Comess, John Lee and Paul Kostabi. His compositions have also been performed independently by Kathleen Supové, Rein Rannap, Kristjan Järvi, Mark Berman, Michael Wolff, Marko Martin, Kai Schumacher and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra.

The curator of the exhibition is Greesi Desiree Langovits.