About Mark kostabi (born 1960 California, USA): "Kostabi was born in Los Angeles on November 27, 1960, to Estonian immigrants Kaljo and Rita Kostabi. He was raised in Whittier, California and studied drawing and painting at California State University Fullerton (CSUF Alumni). In 1982 he moved to New York and by 1984 he became a prominent figure of the East Village art scene, winning the "Proliferation Prize" from the East Village Eye for being in more art exhibitions than any other New York artist.

Mark Kostabi, whose haunting paintings feature Surrealism-inspired set pieces and angles, rose to prominence amid the Neo-Expressionist boom of 1980s New York. The artist’s signature faceless figures—adrift in starkly lined, color-saturated worlds—attracted attention from collectors, the press, and fellow East Village art-world acolytes. Kostabi began exhibiting throughout the city and internationally, and his work has sold for five figure prices at auction. His paintings, along with his irreverent media appearances and opulent, three-floor mega-studio (dubbed “Kostabi World”), all commented on the absurd commercialism and commodification of art in the decades leading up to the new millennium."