Mike Mandel designed both temporary (billboards) and permanent (tile mosaic) artworks specifically for public sites. His work has been primarily focused on public art projects transforming photographic imagery into large-scale glass and porcelain tile mosaic murals. In 1974 he received his M.F.A. from the San Francisco Art Institute, concentrating in Photography. Among his awards are four fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Fulbright Fellowship, a MacDowell Fellowship and numerous other grants and awards. His work is represented in museum collections throughout the world. In 1977 Mandel and Larry Sultan authored Evidence, a photo narrative comprised only of images that they found in government and corporate archives, such as police, fire departments, aerospace and engineering firms. The photographs were originally made as documents of crime scenes, rocket experiments, etc. But by inventing a new sequence within the book format, they come to symbolize an entirely new message about the failure of faith in progress and technology.
Mike Mandel
Studios
Nef
Mike Mandel worked in the Nef studio.
Nef Studio, the first entirely new studio built after 1937, was donated by esteemed photographer, explorer, author, and MacDowell Fellow Evelyn Steffanson Nef in 1992. Endowed funds for the studio’s maintenance in perpetuity and an annual Fellowship for photographers were given in addition to funds for construction. Mrs. Nef said she had known about MacDowell all her…