Marisol Escobar Pocohontas 1616 serigraph signed

Known for her satirical assemblages of figures in tableaux, Marisol (Escobar) created innovative combinations of carving, painting, castings and pop objects. She a compulsive and prolific worker with subjects that include Lyndon Johnson, John Wayne, and social institutions of weddings and families.
Mariso was born in Paris and spent her childhood traveling around European cities. She attended the fashionable Westlake School for Girls in Los Angeles and studied at the Jepson School with Howard Warshaw and Rico Lebrun. She went to New York in the early 1950s and was part of the "Beat Generation" in Greenwich Village.
She studied at the Art Students League, and worked for three years with Hans Hoffman at Provincetown, Massachusetts. She also began to create humorous sculpture as a rebellion and antidote to the depressed people with whom she was associating.  Marisol was influenced by Pre-Columbian pottery and early American folk art. The work of William King inspired her to make silhouette sculptures, and she combined all sorts of seemingly unrelated objects such as religious icons and Coca Cola bottles.

She dropped her last name of Escobar to be distinctive with only one name. In 1957, Leo Castelli held a successful exhibition, but she was so overcome by shyness she fled to Rome for three years. Then in 1962, she had an exhibit at the Stable Gallery, and this event made her famous; her work was on the cover of "Time" magazine, and she was part of the Pop-Art scene with Andy Warhol. She attended many parties dressed in exotic outfits and starred in underground movies.