Joe Mangrum (born February 10, 1969) is an installation and multiple-medium artist who is particularly known for his large-scale colored sand paintings. He resides in New York City. Using a wide spectrum of components, his work often includes organic materials, such as flowers, food and sand, in addition to deconstructed computer parts, auto-parts and a multitude of found and collected objects. His installations often include mandala-like forms, pyramids, maps, grids and mushroom clouds and the Ouroboros. Early life and education Joe Mangrum was born in Florissant, Missouri, near St. Louis. He started taking oil painting lessons when he was 8. At age 16 he won a trip to India, in an art competition sponsored by the Asia Society. His entry in the contest was a painting which portrayed a series of baskets representing his limited knowledge of India. The trip sparked an interest in travel and multicultural influences. Mangrum attended The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1991. His focus of study was on painting and photography, though after art school he began to expand his work into site-specific, environmental and ephemeral installations. Sand paintings Joe Mangrum has created hundreds of sand paintings in public spaces of New York City. Each large scale sand painting is spontaneously created by pouring colored sand into multiple patterns over the course of a day and is often fifteen to twenty feet in diameter. He cites influences from many sources in what he calls, “...organic symmetry where the feeling of the design is of a living being outstretched on the pavement...images may intertwine like a Celtic knot or represent nature like a sea anemone, DNA strands or some biomorphic form, sometimes very psychedelic.” He also describes "... an urban free-style and combined with bright 'Pop Art' colors, fractal variations and circuitry. My paintings are influenced by an abundant world of undersea creatures, carnivorous plants emanating electrical impulses, a living mathematical amalgam and botanical geometry stemming cross-cultural metaphors..." He also cites influences such as Rangoli, Buddhist mandalas, Navajo sand paintings, mosaics in Islamic art and the rose windows of European cathedrals. He has been commissioned to create site-specific sand paintings for The Museum of Arts and Design, FLAG Arts Foundation, Corcoran Gallery Rotunda, Asia Society, United Nations School and Adelphi University. Mangrum has also produced sand paintings in San Francisco, Miami, Chicago, New Orleans,