Henry Mandell Lecture

Henry Mandell was born in New York City and continues to live and work there making abstract artworks with unusual methods. Paintings and works on paper are composed from text which is transformed into complex patterns from the outlines of all the words. Using stories, raw data or poetry as a starting point and working by hand with a digital brush, Mandell transforms the shapes of letters into new forms using computers and drawing programs. Once completed, the paintings are printed on canvas with archival inkjet printers.

In 2014, his 11 x 26 foot mural Tatara Fire was installed in The Columbia Museum of Art in Columbia, South Carolina. Commissioned by the museum, Tatara Fire refers to the symbols of transformation through fire. From the forging of ancient Japanese steel in traditional clay tatara kilns to the burning of the city of Columbia at the end of the Civil War, the artwork aims draw viewers into its intricate patterns, perhaps to reflect on how our past informs our present. The mural contains most of the 10,000 words from the source texts used to create the painting.

In addition to his Fine Art practice, Mr. Mandell is also Project Manager for The Estate of Mark
Rothko. Working there to create digital archives of Rothko’s work and historical records, as well
as overseeing all reproductions of the Artist’s work and management of licensing. Mr. Mandell
received a BFA in Fine Art from Ithaca College and has studied at Parsons School of Design and The School of Visual Arts in New York.

This lecture is sponsored by the CMA’s Contemporaries and by The Palladium Society of Historic Columbia.