Marisol

Maria Sol Escobar, known as Marisol was a French born artist of Venezuelan heritage. She was one of the narrative realist sculptors of the generation that preceded mine. Along with George Segal and Ed Keinholz she had an important influence on the development of my work.

As a teenager she emigrated to the USA along with her family first to Los Angeles where she studied at the Otis Art Institute followed by a year at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris then to New York where she studied with Hans Hoffman.

Her career began to flourish in the early 1960’s and she appeared in two Andy Warhol films, “Kiss” and “13 Most Beautiful Girls”. Her beauty was often at the root of the constant prejudice towards a woman sculptor having been judged by the masculine logic.
Her sculptures were laced with humor and satire and she often made a mockery of female stereotypes. In life she was a woman of few words, letting the work speak for her.

In order to tell her story, I have incorporated elements of her studio life, her sculptures, and the contrast between her personal style and her extreme dedication to the craft and intellect she displayed in creating her work.

Her career waned in the 1990’s but as is often the case has been revitalized after her death with a traveling exhibition including 100 pieces that were bequeathed to the Buffalo AKG Art Museum in Buffalo, New York.