Escobar, pictured in New York City in 1968, stands next to a seven-foot-tall bronze work titled Father Damien. Although largely forgotten in recent decades, artist Marisol Escobar’s public persona and creative output made a serious splash in the New York art world in the 1960s. Operating on her own terms in a male-dominated scene, the French sculptor was “known for blithely shattering boundaries, ” as her obituary in The New York Times declared earlier this year. For one, Escobar maintained privacy in an age when the public thirsted for celebrity. She was described as “Garboesque” for her discretion: that is to say, on par with the famously reclusive habits of the Swedish-born actress. Escobar confounded others with her often-silent presence, but ultimately her shape-shifting This story is from Kinfolk Issue Twenty-Three Buy Now Related Stories Arts & Culture Issue 48 Jordan Casteel The acclaimed painter of people—and now plants. Arts & Culture Issue 48 The Art of Fashion On what artists’ clothes communicate. Arts & Culture Issue 47 Thanks, I Hate It How to give feedback to art friends. Arts & Culture Issue 47 Correction: The Starving Artist Bad times don’t always make for good art. Arts & Culture Issue 47 Rachid Koraïchi Meet the Algerian artist building cemeteries. Arts & Culture Issue 47 Simone Bodmer-Turner Meet the artist throwing clay a curveball.
