Phyliss Mark

Phyllis Mark was born in New York City and centered her career there. She studied with Grace Greenwood, a New Deal social realist painter active in the WPA, and with Seymour Lipton, a major proponent of Abstract Expressionist sculpture, both at The New School. Mark was an American modern artist. She was a leading proponent of kinetic sculpture, rotating indoor works on motors, outdoor works by wind or water. Mark also had an enduring interest in light. She first generated light within the work itself, using small electric bulbs. Later, she began to work in polished metal, creating interactions between the work, its reflections, and cast shadows. She was an early proponent of sculptural editions, first in small scale, her Sculpture-to-wear, art conceived as jewelry, later in her larger kinetic works. Throughout her career, Mark explored concepts in her art alongside pure abstraction. In late career, she executed a number of large-scale works, photographed the work and its intended site, and cited the work in photomontage.