Mark Amato

Biography

Mark Amato (b. 1952)

Born in Denver, Colorado, Mark Amato was introduced to art and photography at an early age by the Photorealist and Naturalist William Traher (1908-1984), known for his background diorama murals at the Denver Museum of Natural History. A scholarship student at Miami Dade Community College’s Mitchell Wolfson Campus (1971-1972) and recipient of the Student Assistantship Work Study Program and Rosenthal Foundation Grant, he graduated as a fine artist from the University of Colorado, Denver. Some of the assistantships for visiting artists included Pop-artists Wayne Thiebaud, Ed Ruscha and Christo. He was also an apprentice to artist Duane Hanson from 1925-1996 and helped in the fabrication of four of his hyper-real polyester sculptures and was further influenced by John De Andrea.

A shy and transient "outsider artist," Amato is a retired gardener and landscape designer. He worked as a horticulturist at the Denver Botanic Gardens, and as a Head Gardener at Skylands, one of Martha Stewart's residences and of Edsel Ford’s former estate. Most recently, he was a groundskeeper at the Grand Canyon North Rim Lodge and Resort. Many of his inspirations for his abstract color palettes and brush gestures are derived from the landscapes, colors and movement of the places where he lived.

He is currently living and an artist-in-residence at the Centro de las Artes San Agustin Etla, Oaxaca.