About Mark Prent

Many of you have already spoken with our Technical Wizard and C.E.O., Mark Prent; and those of you who have, no doubt have found him to be a practical resource of almost unfathomable depth. However, significantly fewer are aware of his professional history and reputation as an artist, so I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce you to Mark Prent, the sculptor.

Born in Poland in 1947 and educated at Sir George Williams University in Montreal, Canada; Mark has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards including the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship (1978) and seventeen Canada Council Grants (to name just two examples.) He was honored in 1975 with an invitation from the Deutsche Akademischer Austauschdienst Guest Artist in Berlin Program, and spent nearly two years in Germany. His work has been exhibited extensively all over the world, and his solo shows have been featured at such prestigious institutions as the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, Holland; the Akademie Der Kunst in Berlin, Germany; and the Musee d’art contemporain in Montreal, Canada.

Three documentary films have been made in Canada about his work, as well as volumes of newspaper and magazine articles, catalogues and commentaries. He has lectured and taught workshops in hundreds of institutions over the years and continues to do so.  Back when workshops were offered at the bi-annual Sculpture Conferences of the International Sculpture Center, he routinely presented the life-molding workshop. 

In the early 1980’s Prent moved with his wife to the U.S. and settled in the beautiful Champlain Valley of Vermont where they developed Pink House Studios Inc. as a way of marketing his technical expertise and providing the superior products and customer support that he knew, from his own experience, was so badly needed in the field of life-molding.

Curriculum Vitae

1947 Born in Lodz, Poland

1948 Immigrated to Canada

1970 BFA, Sir George Williams University; Montreal, Quebec

Residing in the United States since 1984.


SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2000 pink eye, St. Albans, Vermont (U.S.A.)

1993 Centre d’Exposition Circa; Montreal, Canada

1993Galerie de la Tour; Basel, Switzerland

1991 Glendon Gallery; Toronto, Canada

1991 Galerie Experanza; Montreal, Canada

1990 The Isaacs Gallery; Toronto, Canada

1990 Galerie Esperanza; Montreal, Canada

1987 Powerplant Gallery; Toronto, Canada (catalogue)

1987 Chaffee Gallery: Rutland, Vermont U.S.A.

1987 Saw Gallery; Ottawa, Canada

1986 Galerie Esperanza; Montreal, Canada

1986 The Isaacs Gallery; Toronto, Canada

1985 Forest City Gallery; London, Ontario; Canada

1984 The Isaccs Gallery; Toronto, Ontario (Canada)

1984 Galerie Fucito; Montreal, Quebec (Canada)

1983 Galerie Matane; Matane, Quebec (Canada)

1982 Salle Tremble; Alma, Quebec (Canada) brochure

1981 The Isaacs Gallery, Toronto, Ontario (Canada)

1979 Musee d’art contemporain; Montreal, Quebec (Canada) catalogue

1979 Saw Gallery; Ottawa, Ontario (Canada)

Art Space; Peterborough, Ontario (Canada)

1978 Stedelijk Museum; Amsterdam, (Holland) catalogue

1978 Sir George Williams Art Gallery; Montreal, Quebec (Canada)

1978 The Isaacs Gallery; Toronto, Ontario (Canada)

1976 Kunsthalle Nuremberg; Nuremberg, (Germany) catalog

1975 Akademie der Kunste; Berlin, (Germany) catalog

1974 York University; Toronto, Ontario (Canada)

1974The Isaacs Gallery; Toronto, Ontario (Canada)

1971 Sir George Williams Art Gallery; Montreal, Quebec (Canada)

 

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

1999 “De la Montuosite”; Galerie Espace D Rene Harrison, and Galerie Harrison Art International, Montreal, Quebec (Canada)

1999 “L’etat des Chose Photographique”; Galerie Espace D. Rene Harrison; Montreal, Quebec (Canada)

1992 “Miniatuur-Museum” Reflex Modern Art Gallery; Amsterdam (Hol.)

1992″Small Villages-Isaacs Retrospective” Art Gallery of Hamilton;
Hamilton, Ontario (Canada)

1989 “Artluminium”; a joint initiative of Alcan and Lavalin. Contemporary art
featuring the use of aluminum. Montreal, Quebec (Canada)

1986-87 “The Human Touch”; Le Botanique. Centre Culturelle Bruxelles
(Belgium)touring Liege, Knokke and Paris (France)

1986-87″Repulsion: Aesthetics of the Grotesque”; Alternative Museum
New York, New York (U.S.A.)

1985 “East-West Visual Arts Encounter”; Bombay (India)

1983 Art Bank Exhitit; Galerie UQAM. Montreal, Quebec (Canada)

1982 “Art Against Repression”; Artspace. Peterborough, Ontario (Canada)

1982″The First International Shoebox Sculpture Exhibition”; The University
of Hawaii Art Gallery. Honolulu, Hawaii; travelling in U.S. and Japan.

1981 “Prince, Prent, Whiten”; The Agness Etherington Art Centre.
Kingston, Ontario (Canada)

1981University of Hawaii at Manoa; Honolulu, Hawaii (U.S.A.)

1981″Panic Internationale”; Maison de la Culture Rennes. Rennes (France)

1980 “Quebec Sculpture 1970-80”; Chicoutimi, Quebec and
Musee d’art contemporain, Montreal, Quebec (Canada)

1980 “Sculpture 1980” ; Maryland Institute College of Art.
Baltimore, Maryland (U.S.A.)

1980 “11th International Sculpture Conference”; Dupont Centre (Cochran
Annex) Washington, D.C. (U.S.A.)

1979 “The Birmingham Festival of the Arts”; Birmingham, Alabama (U.S.A.)

1979 “Festival of the Performing and Visual Arts”; Wilfrid Laurier, Univers.
Waterloo, Ontario (Canada)

1978 “Canadian Contemporary Sculpture”; Centre Saidye Bronfman
Montreal, Quebec (Canada)

1978 Ontario College of Art; Toronto, Ontario (Canada)

1978 “Performance”; Harbourfront Art Gallery. Toronto, Ontario (Canada)

1978 The Isaacs Gallery; Toronto, Ontario (Canada)

1975 “Nine Out of Ten: A Survey of Contemporary Canadian Art”
Art Gallery of Hamilton, Ontario; Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery,
Ontario; The Gallery, Stratford, Ontario (Canada)

1974 “The Isaac Gallery at the Owens Art Gallery”; Mount Allison University
Sackville, New Brunswick (Canada)

1974 Gallery Rebecca Cooper; Washington D.C. (U.S.A.)

1973 “Eighth Biennale de Paris”; Musee national d’art moderne,
Musee d’art moderne de la ville de Paris (France)

1972 “Realism: Emulsion and Omission”; Agnes Etherington Art Centre
Queen’s University, Kingston Ontario and Art Gallery of the University of
Guelph Ontario (Canada)

1971 “Royal Canadian Academy Travelling Exhibition”
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts; Montreal, Quebec and Confederation
Art Gallery and Museum, Charlottetown P.E.I. (Canada)

1970 “Winnipeg Biennial” Winnipeg Art Gallery; Winnipeg, Manitoba

1970 “Survey ’70” Montreal Museum of Fine Arts; Montreal, Quebec

 

GRANTS & AWARDS

1996 Canada Council Senior Arts Award

1993 Art Matters Inc.
1993 Canada Council Project Cost Grant

1992 Canada Council Project Cost Grant, Japan-Canada Fund

1991 Canada Council Senior Arts Award, Japan-Canada Fund

1990 Canada Council Project Cost Grant, Japan-Canada Fund

1988 Art Matters Inc.

1987 Canada Council Senior Arts Award
1987 Art Matters Inc.

1985 Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation Fellowship
1985 Canada Council Senior Arts Award

1984 Canada Council Short-Term Grant

1983 Canada Council Short-Term Grant

1981 Canada Council Senior Arts Award

1980 Canada Council Senior Arts Award

1979 Canada Council Senior Arts Award

1978 Victor M. Lynch-Staunton Award
1978 Canada Council Arts Award

1977 Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship

1975 Canada Council Arts Award
1975 Guest of The Deutsches Akademischer Austauschdienst
(DAAD) Artist in Berlin Program

1973 Canada Council Arts Award

1972 Canada Council Arts Award

1971 Canada Council Arts Award

 

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

 National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa, Ontario)

Vancouver Art Gallery (British Columbia, Canada)

Art Bank of Canada (Ottawa, Ontario)

Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto, Canada)

Art Gallery of Hamilton (Ontario, Canada)

Musee d’art contemporain (Montreal, Quebec; Canada)

Musee du Quebec (Quebec, Canada)

Sir George Williams Art Gallery (Montreal, Canada)

“Festival de le Rire” (Montreal, Canada)

McKenzie Art Gallery (Saskatchewan, Canada)

Musee des beaux arts de Sherbrooke (Quebec, Canada)

Musee de la ville de Lachine (Quebec, Canada)

Reflex Modern Art Museum (Amsterdam, Holland)

 

DOCUMENTARY FILMS ON MARK PRENT

1997 “Prent’s Universe”
Twenty-five minutes. 16mm color documentary
directed by Martial Ethier; Montreal, Quebec

1980 “Mark Prent: Overmood”
One-half hour. 16mm color documenttary; directed by Brian McNeil
Montreal, Quebec

1976 “If Brains Were Dynamite, You Wouldn’t Have Enough
To Blow Your Nose”
One-half-hour.16-mm color documentary ; directed by Tom Burstyn
Briston Productions and St. Cloud Films: Montreal, Quebec

MEMBERSHIP IN PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES

Royal Canadian Academy (RCA)
International Sculpture Center

COLLABORATIONS AND PERFORMANCES

1996 “Pupae” solo Butoh Performance; Montreal, Quebec

1992 “Winds from the Future” Butoh Performance Series, with Tetsuro
Fukuhara. Sculptural costume with fiber-optics by Mark Prent.
Tokyo, Japan

1991 “Tetsuro Fukuhara and BODHI SATTVA, Mark Prent and Sue Real”
Dance performance tour by Japanese Butoh troupe choreographed
around Mark Pent’s and Sue Real’s original sculptural installation and
costumes. Supported by the Canada Council Touring Office and the
Japan-Canada Fund. Boreal Multimedia, L’annunciation, Quebec;
National Gallery, Ottawa; Saidye Bronfman Center, Montreal; Glendon
Gallery, Toronto; Harbourfront, Toronto; Nippissing University, North
Bay, Ontario; Artcite, Inc., Windsor, Ontario; Concordia University,
Montreal; Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont, and The Triplex
Center for Performing Arts, New York City, New York

1987 “Le Festin Chez La Comtesse Fritouille”
Figure for the original production staged by Suzanne Lantagne and her
company at Espace Libre in Montreal, Quebec

 

PARTIAL SUMMARY OF LECTURE APPEARANCES:

School of the Art Institute of Chicago

University of Arizona, Tucson

University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu

University of Ottawa; Ontario CANADA

CEGEP du Vieux-Montreal, Quebec CANADA

York University; Toronto, Ontario CANADA

Alberta College of Art; Calgary, Alberta CANADA

Concordia University; Montreal, Quebec CANADA

Nova Scotia College of Art and Design; Halifax NS CANADA

Emily Carr College of Art and Design; Vancouver, BC CANADA

Vancouver Society of Art, BC CANADA

University of Calgary; Alberta CANADA

University of Windsor; Ontario CANADA

ARTSPACE; Toronto, Ontario CANADA

Off-Center Center; Calgary, Alberta CANADA

Dawson College; Montreal, Quebec CANADA

Brock University; St. Catherines, Ontario CANADA

Queen’s University; Toronto, Ontario CANADA

Cambrian College; Sudbury, Ontario CANADA

Wilfrid Laurier University; Kitchner, Ontario CANADA

Beale College; London, Ontario CANADA

Trent University; Peterborough, Ontario CANADA

Johnson State College; Johnson, Vermont

Fanshaw College; London , Ontario CANADA