Jonathan Mandell's Resume
Self-Portrait of the Mosaicist, 1999
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Born in Philadelphia in 1962, Jonathan Mandell is now one of the nation's leading
mosaic artists. He began his pursuit in the fine arts during his senior year
at Northwestern University, where he was enrolled in a general sculpture class.
The fundamental concepts of sculpture, stone carving, and clay modeling interested
him. He was influenced by the art of mosaic while he was at the University of
Pennsylvania.
A history major, Jonathan was able to trace his burgeoning interest in the
ancient art of mosaic back to its historical origins. Hence, his chronological
and logistical thought patterns were gradually redirected to the actual process
of creating sculpture.
After receiving his undergraduate degree and returning to Philadelphia, he
took classes at the Main Line Center for the Arts and the Philadelphia College
of Art. In the MFA program at the University of Pennsylvania, he was both inspired
and influenced by painter Neil Welliver. Jonathan began to create mosaics in
square rather than rectangular shapes. His compositions were further enhanced
after befriending Selim El-Sherif in 1987. With El-Sherif, he visited the Mosques
of Egypt, witnessing the media in a liturgic context. The experience of the
bold colors and the precise geometrics of the Islamic mosaics were intensified
further by Islamic prayer.
Jonathan's works can now be seen at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, as
well as The National Liberty Museum and the National Museum of American Jewish
History. His mosaics are on permanent exhibit at the McGraw Hill Company in
New York.
While many of Mandell's creations are based in Judaism, heavily influenced
by Byzantine culture, he departs from tradition to deliver new relevance to
the established symbols of man, biblical and mythical, in mosaics depicting
secular and nonsecular subjects. The alchemy of pure form, abstract and geometrical
shapes are melded by the mystique of mosaic, a tradition of patience and toil.
Jonathan Mandell's talent lies in his use of materials (cut or broken ceramic
tile, semiprecious stones, minerals, mirror, marbles, petrified wood), color,
composition, and the language of what protrudes and what lays back.
By extracting from the ancient and giving freedom to his exploration of texture,
depth, color, and use of material, Jonathan Mandell will redefine the art of
mosaic in the new millennium.
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