MARK EISEN
Modern Fine Art
“I consider my works to be living art. For me, the mirror is airtight. It accepts the past and acknowledges the future but reflects this moment only. I want to evoke hope and happiness in my work - eternal optimism.”
Mark Eisen
Modern Fine Art is pleased to present the extraordinary sculptures of Mark Eisen. These works have never previously been offered, and we believe that Eisen will soon be regarded as a major 21st century sculptor, notably for his achievements in combining material and process in ways that explore an object’s potential to activate space.
Each of the six wall sculptures illustrated in this introductory catalogue are characterized by a personal set of principles formed over his 30-year career in art and design: the analysis of pure shapes, silhouettes and forms; the possibilities of material transformation; the affective compass of color; and the mechanics of layering, reflectivity, concavity and convexity.
In 2013, Mark turned his creative focus to fine art and began mining his personal archive with the intention of creating sculpture. In his artworks, we see key concepts and forms built over nearly three decades as a highly successful fashion designer. Balance is an essential element to Eisen’s art, where the strict geometry of layered shapes is softened by the sensuality of concave or convex form and the emotive quality of color.
Mark described creating ‘living objects’ - art that is a part of our lives by reflecting our lives. The highly reflective finishes cause the works to respond to ambient conditions such as movement and light, while viewers effectively become part of the work.
With Mark’s untimely passing in 2023, he has left behind an extensive archive of unrealized sculptural wall works, floor standing pieces and large-scale public artworks. Modern Fine Art is proud to contribute to these sculptures becoming Mark Eisen’s most important artistic legacy.
Gold square with two concave half circles and yellow rectangle, 2021
Signed ‘Mark Eisen 2021’ on verso
Stainless Steel & Paint
49 ¼ x 49 ¼ x 4 ⅜ in 125 x 125 x 11 cm
Edition of 3
Each concave half circle is 3 inches deep at its center point and curves up towards its outer edge where it meets the square. The whole form is then halved by an opaque yellow painted rectangle on the left side. The absolute center of the artwork appears forever pinched by the impinging half-circles and the color edge.
Gold disc with concave fuchsia ellipse, 2022
Signed ‘Mark Eisen 2022’ on verso
Stainless Steel & Paint
51 ⅛ x 51 ⅛ x 7 3/4 in 130 x 130 x 19.5 cm
Edition of 3
This gold disc is comprised of two convex circular cast forms welded together at the edge. There is a circular opening for installation purposes on the back. The artwork protrudes from the wall 7 3/4 inches. The ellipse is 11 13/16 inches wide by 45 19/32 inches in length. The depth of the concave section is 2 13/16 inches. The elliptical cut-through area is painted fuchsia.
Gold square with concave circle and orange triangle, 2021
Signed ‘Mark Eisen 2021’ on verso
Stainless Steel & Paint
49 ¼ x 49 ¼ x 4 ⅜ in 125 x 125 x 11 cm
Edition of 3
A single concave circle symmetrically nestles in a square with flat front and sides. The deepest point of the concave circle is nearly 3 inches deep and curves up towards its outer edge where it meets the square. The whole form is halved by an opaque orange painted triangle.
White disc with concave silver ellipse, 2017
Signed ‘Mark Eisen 2017’ on verso
Stainless Steel & Paint
51 ⅛ x 51 ⅛ x 6 ⅞ in 130 x 130 x 17.6 cm
Edition of 3
This white disc is comprised of two convex circular forms welded together at the edge. There is a circular opening for installation purposes on the back. The artwork protrudes from the wall 6 ⅞ inches. The ellipse size is approximately 25 1/2 inches wide by 45 ¼ inches in length. The depth of the concave section is 6 ⅛ inches.
Gold square with concave yellow circles and ellipses, 2017
Signed ‘Mark Eisen 2017’ on verso
Stainless Steel & Paint
49 ¼ x 49 ¼ x 4 ⅜ in 125 x 125 x 11 cm
Edition of 3
The upper left and lower right corners of a square are symmetrically carved out with two concave ellipses. The upper right and lower left corners of the same square are symmetrically carved out with two concave circles. The edges of the square gradually rise and fall with the concave carving. The concave circle and ellipse forms are painted yellow.
Silver disc with 2 perpendicular concave ellipses, 2023
Signed ‘Mark Eisen 2023’ on verso
Stainless Steel
51 ⅛ x 51 ⅛ x 6 ⅞ in 130 x 130 x 17.6 cm
Edition of 3
This silver disc is comprised of two convex circular forms coming together at the edge. There is a circular opening for installation purposes on the back. The artwork protrudes from the wall 6 ⅞ inches. The intersecting ellipses are approximately 45 ¼ inches wide by 45 ¼ inches in length. The depth of the concave sections is 6 ⅛ inches.
Mark Eisen was born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1958. He moved to the USA when he was 19, attending the University of Southern California and in 1988 was named ‘Alumni of the Year’ by the university’s Business School. The following year he was nominated as the ‘California Designer of the Year’.
Eisen built an eponymous luxury fashion brand that regularly premiered on the foremost runways, employing over 200 people and with design studios in New York, Italy, Japan and Hong Kong. His collections were sold for over 20 years in more than 800 stores in 18 countries, and were often featured in publications such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle and The New York Times.
Eisen changed his direction in 2007, returning part-time to South Africa where he rehabilitated a 17th century French Huguenot wine farm. During this time, he began work on his fine art collection, along with designing fragrance vessels exclusively for the Maisons of the luxury group Richemont.
He returned to the United States in 2019 to concentrate on his sculpture collection and strengthen his collaborations with the world’s best foundries and fabrication partners. These partnerships were intrinsic in allowing Eisen to realize his artistic vision, as the fabrication of each piece involves highly complex and innovative technologies.
Throughout his career Eisen cultivated a cross-cultural, global perspective by creating fashion and objects that enhance life through beauty. An inherent minimalist, he was inspired by the basics of form, material and color. This grew out of early studies in Bauhaus thinking, which inspired him to converge the interdisciplinary fields of art, craft and design. Patternmaking, tooling, material, architecture and technology fuse in his artworks.
His sculptures were his final creations of pure passion, created to evoke hope and happiness in everyone who experienced them.
