Since 1995, Mark Thek has served as president of Esterline Power Systems in Los Angeles. Outside of his work in the aerospace engineering industry, Mark Thek enjoys surfing, snowboarding, and spending time with his family. He also maintains an interest in the work of his late uncle, Paul Thek, a renowned artist. An innovative painter, sculptor, an installation artist, Paul Thek first attained critical success in the mid-1960s when he created his Technological Reliquaries series, which featured realistic wax sculptures of flesh and limbs displayed in Formica and Plexiglas containers. Later in his career, Thek left New York City for Europe and shifted the focus of his work from small sculptures to ephemeral environments made of throwaway materials such as newspaper, flowers, and candles. In the mid-1970s, Thek returned to New York to find that, despite success in Europe’s art community, few people at home remembered his work. Although Thek continued to create innovative pieces until his death in 1988, he never was able to reenter the art world and was forced to support himself by working menial jobs. Since his untimely death at the age of 54, Thek's reputation and popularity have grown considerably. His work can be seen in collections at the Whitney Museum of Art in New York and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC. Thek has also been featured in several books and cited as an influence on a number of subsequent artists. Comments are closed.
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AuthorPresident of Esterline Power Systems - Mark Thek Archives
February 2021
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