Mark Sadan was born in Syracuse,
New York, during the Second World War. At the age of 17 he left home and
went to Israel where he lived and worked on the Kibbutzim as a shephard,
farmer and fisherman. Returning to New York, he studied, performed and
directed theatre and in the late 1960's worked as an experimental filmmaker
whose works were featured in cineprobes at the Museum of Modern Art. In
1969, he received a full scholarship to the graduate Film and Television
Institute at New York University. In the 1970's Sadan produced many short
films for the children's Seasame Street and NBC television.
While directing a documentary
of Norway, Sadan met Leif Preus who invited him to prepare a one-man exhibition
at the Preus Foto Museum. THe exhibit opened in May and June 1981. This
was followed by a grant to produce an exhibit on Norway which opened at
the World Trade Center in the summer of 1983. Approaching the age of 40,
it was an exciting decision for Sadan to commit himself to photography,
in which he had almost no formal training.
His first New York City
exhibit was at the Rizzoli Gallery, and for two years in the mid-80's he
was an exhibiting member of the Soho Photo Gallery.
Recently a portfolio of
Sadan's work was purchased for the corporate art collection of NYNEX. Recent
exhibits have been shown at the Caskill Center for Photography, the University
of Papua New Guinea, and the Neikung Photographica Gallery in New York
City. In the past decade Sadan has exhibited extensively throughout North
America, Eastern Europe, Scandanavia and Great Britain.
