On Wednesday, September 2, 2020, Mark Prent, world-renowned artist, teacher, and loving husband and father, passed away after a brief illness at the age of 72. He is survived by his wife, Sue, and his son, Jesse.
Mark was born on December 23, 1947, in Lodz, Poland, to Carl and Maria (Markowski) Prent. In 1948, the family immigrated to Montréal, Québec, where Mark grew up and received a bachelor of fine arts degree from Sir George Williams University (now Concordia University). Mark later took a teaching position at the university while pursuing his own artistic career. In 1983, he and his wife, Sue, moved to St. Albans, Vt., where they raised their son, Jesse, and ran a molding and casting company, Pink House Studios.
Mark first took the art world by storm in the 1970s, and he never let up. His hyper-realistic sculptures enchanted and challenged viewers with their beauty, provocation and dark humor. Mark intended his sculptures to be narratives, and it was his desire that viewers of his work use their imaginations to “fill in the blanks” of these narratives with their own experience and interior thoughts. He was a perfectionist and innovator of his craft, building an extraordinary body of work over 50 years and exhibiting in high-profile galleries around the world. His work was shown alongside artists such as H.R. Giger, Guillermo del Toro and David Cronenberg.
Despite his tireless work ethic, Mark was always generous with his time, offering invaluable mentorship to his students at Concordia University and detailed technical support to his clients. Outside of art and work, Mark was a devoted husband, father and friend — a man with seemingly boundless energy who was always ready with a few stories to intrigue and entertain guests around the dinner table.
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This article appears in Sep 9-15, 2020.