Founder of Urban Expressionism
Marcus Jansen is considered the founder of “Urban Expressionism” and one of the most important American artists of our time. Jansen is regarded as a critical observer and commentator on our consumer society in the footsteps of Robert Rauschenberg and Jean-Michel Basquiat: “I’m very concerned with the general direction the world is taking.”
Surreal, post-expressionist, ingenious: the post-factual worlds of Marcus Jansen
In his paintings, Marcus Jansen reflects and blurs the boundary between reality and fiction, between dream and consciousness. His paintings lead us into a world that has gone off the rails, exposing supposed truths as empty words and constantly raising questions about the boundary between truth and fiction.
The fact that the word “post-thruth” was voted “Word of the Year” in the USA and the UK at the end of 2017 and its German counterpart “postfaktisch” was voted “Word of the Year” in Germany shows just how topical the answer to this question is.
“In the post-truth era, the boundaries between truth and lies, honesty and dishonesty, fiction and reality are blurring.” wrote Ralph Keyes back in 2004 in his book The Post-Truth Era. “Post-truth (…) erodes the foundation of trust that underlies any healthy civilization. When enough of us internalize fiction as fact, society loses its basis in reality… We are close to that point.”
Few artists of our time reflect this social development with as much force and relevance as Marcus Jansen, who now lives and works in Fort Myers/Florida. As a GI, he experienced the Iraq war “Desert Storm” at first hand – an experience that fundamentally shook his world view and his faith in the authorities. But it was also an experience that culminated in a new, magnificent art form.
The art book publishers Hirmer, Munich and Skira, Milan have each published a major biography of the artist.
Exhibitions and art fairs
2024:
– The Voice of the People: Freedom of Speech, Rollins Museum of Art, Winter Park, Florida, USA
2023:
– In the land of silhouettes, Almine Rech, Shanghai, China
– It is what it Is, Richard Beavers Gallery, New York, USA
– EXPO Chicago, Richard Beavers Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, Germany
– Art Basel, Almine Rech, Miami Beach, Florida, USA
– 10 Jahre – Jubiläumsausstellung, Gallery Kellermann, Düsseldorf, Germany
2022:
– Victims and Victors, Almine Rech, London, United Kingdom
– Post-War to Present, auction, Christie’s, New York, USA
– Marcus Jansen: Two Decades of Relevance, The Baker Museum, Naples, Florida, USA
2021:
– Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri, USA
– Salon de Peinture, Almine Rech, New York, USA
– Un Hiver à Paris, Almine Rech, Paris, France
– Power structures, Almine Rech, Paris, France
– Art Paris, Almine Rech, Paris, France
– June Presentation, Almine Rech, Aspen, Colorado, USA
2020:
– Cornell Fine Arts Museum, Orlando, Florida, USA
– Metro Montage, Cobb Museum of Art, Marietta, Georgia, USA
– Deep Insights, Gallery Kellermann, Düsseldorf, Germany
2019:
– Deconstructing Marcus Jansen, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri, USA
– Aquisition, University of Michigan Museum of Art, Michigan, USA
– TV Festival, Guild Hall, East Hampton, New York, USA
2018:
– Art Miami, Miami, Florida, USA
– Absolut Jansen, Gallery Kellermann, Düsseldorf, Germany
– EXPO Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
– Artcrush, Casterline Goodman Gallery, Aspen, Colorado, USA
– ABSOLUT JANSEN, Gallery Kellermann, Düsseldorf, Germany
– Zitadelle Museum Spandau, Berlin, Germany
2017:
– Obscure Line Between Fact and Fiction, Weinstein Gallery, San Francisco, USA
– My collection, MOCADA Museum, Brooklyn, New York, USA
– Observation, Richard Beavers Gallery, Brooklyn, New York, USA
– Galerie Jörg Heitsch, Munich, Germany
– Art Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany
– Scope Basel, Basel, Switzerland
– Kallmann-Museum, Ismaning, Germany
– Kunsthalle Hohenaschau, Aschau am Chiemsee, Germany
– POSTTRUE REALITIES, Gallery Kellermann, Düsseldorf, Germany
2016:
– La Triennale di Milano Museum, XXI Triennale Esposizione Internazionale, Milan, Italy
– New York Academy of Art, New York, USA
– Still Here – A Decade of Lazarides, Lazarides, Rathbone, London, United Kingdom
– Something, Berry Campbell Gallery, New York, USA
2015:
– Cityleaks Urban Art Biennale, Cologne, Germany
2014:
– Museum Pinacoteca Benedito Calixto, Sao Paulo, Brazil
– Cobb Museum of Art, Marietta, Georgia, USA
– The Baker Museum, Naples, Florida, USA
– Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, New Jersey, USA
– Florida Contemporary, The Baker Museum, Naples, Florida, USA
– Art in Embassies, U.S. Department of State, UNESCO, Paris, France
– The Outsiders Newcastle, Lazinc Gallery, London, United Kingdom
– Art 14, Lazinc Gallery, London, United Kingdom
2013:
– All Florida, Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, Florida, USA
– Eye on the storm, Housatonic Museum of Art, Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA
– Protest, Richard Beavers Gallery, Brookyn, New York, USA
– Art with a purpose, Rush Arts Gallery, Chelsea, New York, USA
– Bob Rauschenberg Gallery, Fort Myers, USA
– Casa Delle Culture Del Mundo, Milan, Italy
2012:
– Anonynmus, Museum of Contemporary Art PERMM, Moscow, Russia
– Absolut Blank Campaign, NOVA Festival de Cultura Contemporanea, Brazil
2011:
– Florida Contemporary, The Baker Museum, Naples, Florida, USA
2010:
– FIFA Aussstellung, Berliner Kongress Center, Berlin, Germany
2009:
– International Convention Centre, Capetown, South Afrcia
– FDIM Museum, Los Angeles, California, USA
2008:
– Warner Bros Anniversary, FDIM Museum, Los Angeles, California, USA
2006:
– Under/current/over/view 8 Biennial, Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, Florida, USA
– 49th Festival, Société des Beaux Arts de Garches, France
– 12th International Print & Drawing Biennial, Angel Art Gallery, Taiwan
2005:
– Arts for act, Bob Rauschenberg Gallery, Fort Myers, Florida, USA
Museums and collections
– Fundación CALOSA, Irapuato, Mexico
– The Baker Museum, Naples, Florida, USA
– The Alfond Collection of Contemporary Art, Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida, USA
– Rollins Museum of Art, Winter Park, Florida, USA
– Cornell Fine Arts Museum, Winter Park, Florida, USA
– New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut, USA
– Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri, USA
– Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, Florida, USA
– Museum of African Art, New York, USA
– Perm Museum of Contemporary Art, Perm, Russia
– National Taiwan Museum of Fine Art, Taichung, Taiwan
– The Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei City, Taiwan
– Housatonic Museum of Art, Bridgeport, USA
– Smithsonian Institution, Washington, USA
– Moscow Museum of Modern Art (MMOMA), Moskau, Russia
Awards and prizes
2016:
– Best local film, Fort Myers Film Festival, Florida, USA
2013:
– Fleurieu Art Prize Finalist, Adelaide, Australia
– Arte Laguna Art Prize, Venice, Italy
2012:
– United States Grand Prize, Dave Bown Projects, USA
2008:
– 8th. International Contemporary Art Biennale, St. Petersburg, Russia
2007:
– 12th. International Print & Drawing Biennale, Taiwan
New American art with German roots
Marcus Jansen was born in New York as the son of a West Indian mother and a German father. Jansen spent a large part of his youth in Germany, where he went to school and studied art and design at the vocational college in Mönchengladbach.
