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Almine Rech

Marcus Jansen

Born in New York in 1968, Marcus Jansen creates powerful paintings that respond to his experiences from growing up in the U.S. and Germany as well as cultural and social-political themes. His socially charged urban landscape paintings are influenced by the two opposite worlds he grew up in. 

Through his colorful and expressive brushwork, Jansen documents the human condition critically, socially and politically and invites the viewer to engage in the reflection. 

In 2012, Jansen launched a new series that he named Faceless. The series is a departure from Jansen’s post-apocalyptic dystopian urban environments. His work challenges the traditional stylized rules that have governed the genre and creates a new form of portraiture while investigating structures of power and anonymity. 

Jansen has held solo museum exhibitions internationally, including recently at La Triennale di Milano Museum, Milan, the Museum Zitadelle Berlin, The Baker Museum, Naples, FL, and Rollins Museum of Art. He has participated in the 12th International Print and Drawing Biennial in Taiwan at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Art. Works by Jansen are in collections of the Bronx Museum of the Arts, the Moscow Museum of Modern Art (MMOMA), The University of Michigan Museum of Art, The New Britain Museum of American Art, The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, The National Taiwan Museum of Fine Art, The Housatonic Museum of Art and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. 

Selected artworks

  • Marcus Jansen,                                      During COVID, 2020

    Marcus Jansen During COVID, 2020

    Oil enamel, oil stick, spray paint, and paper on canvas
    152.4 x 182.9 cm
    60 x 72 in

  • Marcus Jansen,                                      2020, 2020

    Marcus Jansen 2020, 2020

    Oil enamels, spray paint, oil stick on canvas
    213.4 x 182.9 cm
    84 x 72 in

  • Marcus Jansen,                                      Puppet, 2020

    Marcus Jansen Puppet, 2020

    Oil enamels, oil stick, spray paint on canvas
    213.4 x 182.9 cm
    84 x 72 in

  • Marcus Jansen,                                      During COVID #2, 2020

    Marcus Jansen During COVID #2, 2020

    Oil enamels, spray paint, oil sticks on canvas
    213.4 x 182.9 cm
    84 x 72 in

  • Marcus Jansen,                                      David and Goliath, 2020

    Marcus Jansen David and Goliath, 2020

    Oil enamel, spray paint, oil stick on canvas
    213.4 x 182.9 cm
    84 x 72 in

  • Marcus Jansen,                                      Displaced, 2020

    Marcus Jansen Displaced, 2020

    Oil enamels, mixed media on canvas
    223.5 x 342.9 cm
    88 x 135 in

Videos

  • Art Historian, Manfred Schneckenburger holds lecture about American artist, Marcus Jansen, 2018.

Selected press

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