london street art: mike marcus with Isolitude, originally uploaded by mermaid99.

I am putting together an Arts Council funding application and exhibition proposal for a large relational art installation somewhere in London. Up until now I have mostly put my work on the street with the occasional gallery show. However I do not find either environment to be an ideal place to show my work.

Street installations are hard to control. I'm to getting sick of sneaking around trying to avoid police and (ironically) the issue of vandalism (people tagging over, destroying or removing my work) is discouraging me in the sense that I do not with to be part of any type of territorial battle.

Galleries tend to be dry and exclusive and I feel that they exclude and alienate as many potential viewers as they encourage. Rather than disseminating good art, commercial galleries are only interested in showing work, which will generate sales, to a public who are able to buy.

Because of this, I am looking for a space which is neither street nor private. An in-between space where a sense of public ownership can be fostered but I could still retain control over installation and preservation of my work.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Tags: ArtPolitic

london street art: mike marcus with Isolitude, originally uploaded by mermaid99.

I am putting together an Arts Council funding application and exhibition proposal for a large relational art installation somewhere in London. Up until now I have mostly put my work on the street with the occasional gallery show. However I do not find either environment to be an ideal place to show my work.

Street installations are hard to control. I'm to getting sick of sneaking around trying to avoid police and (ironically) the issue of vandalism (people tagging over, destroying or removing my work) is discouraging me in the sense that I do not with to be part of any type of territorial battle.

Galleries tend to be dry and exclusive and I feel that they exclude and alienate as many potential viewers as they encourage. Rather than disseminating good art, commercial galleries are only interested in showing work, which will generate sales, to a public who are able to buy.

Because of this, I am looking for a space which is neither street nor private. An in-between space where a sense of public ownership can be fostered but I could still retain control over installation and preservation of my work.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Tags: ArtPolitic

In the past I have used street art, and particularly the medium of the pasted poster to disseminate political ideas.

There is a jewish religious law which prevents the destruction of the 'written word of god'. This usually manifests in the practice of burying decommissioned holy texts such as bibles and prayer books on consecrated ground. The religious jewish population of Israel are extremely fanatical about keeping their laws in a very literal sense. Interestingly for this project the religious and zionist lobby overlap considerably and both have significant political clout - It occurred to me that it might be fun to give them a conflict of interests.

I propose that houses in danger of demolition are identified and their outsides papered with blown up copies of jewish texts. The religious right would protest violently to prevent their demolition despite the fact that they are the very group who pressure the israeli administration for increased settlement building activities in the occupied territories.

Apart from the obvious human rights benefits of such a project, for me as an artist I am attracted to the surreality of the mental image it invokes. I think that it could lead to some extremely visually arresting photography - Hasidim in full religious garb, preventing bulldozers from accessing rows of houses clad in black and white calligraphic forms.

Tags: ArtPolitic

In the past I have used street art, and particularly the medium of the pasted poster to disseminate political ideas.

There is a jewish religious law which prevents the destruction of the 'written word of god'. This usually manifests in the practice of burying decommissioned holy texts such as bibles and prayer books on consecrated ground. The religious jewish population of Israel are extremely fanatical about keeping their laws in a very literal sense. Interestingly for this project the religious and zionist lobby overlap considerably and both have significant political clout - It occurred to me that it might be fun to give them a conflict of interests.

I propose that houses in danger of demolition are identified and their outsides papered with blown up copies of jewish texts. The religious right would protest violently to prevent their demolition despite the fact that they are the very group who pressure the israeli administration for increased settlement building activities in the occupied territories.

Apart from the obvious human rights benefits of such a project, for me as an artist I am attracted to the surreality of the mental image it invokes. I think that it could lead to some extremely visually arresting photography - Hasidim in full religious garb, preventing bulldozers from accessing rows of houses clad in black and white calligraphic forms.

Tags: ArtPolitic

Character study - watercolour on paper

character study, originally uploaded by Mike Marcus.

Final painting - oil on canvas

oil on canvas, originally uploaded by Mike Marcus.

Tags: ArtPolitic

Character study - watercolour on paper

character study, originally uploaded by Mike Marcus.

Final painting - oil on canvas

oil on canvas, originally uploaded by Mike Marcus.

Tags: ArtPolitic

exogamy #2/2t print, originally uploaded by Mike Marcus.

February the 12th sees the first print release from the new Exogamy #2 series

The image features a triptych of intersexual hybrid figures, each a digital "genetic" synthesis of my own self portrait with that of a woman who I encountered in my daily life. In this case, I met each of the donor females via a different internet social network.

There will be an accompanying release of 33 unique large format public works, one placed in each of the London boroughs. This is indicative of a new direction for me, marrying my 'street art' and 'fine art photography' careers into one unified practice.

The edition consists of 85 20x16 inch silver gelatine photographs (plus 4 selenium toned Artist proofs) on 300gsm fibre based semigloss paper. Each piece is individually hand printed by myself in the darkroom from a digital internegative. The edition size is intentionally large in order to keep the price low and enable ordinary people to afford to purchase a print during the current economic climate.

Tags: ArtPolitic

exogamy #2/2t print, originally uploaded by Mike Marcus.

February the 12th sees the first print release from the new Exogamy #2 series

The image features a triptych of intersexual hybrid figures, each a digital "genetic" synthesis of my own self portrait with that of a woman who I encountered in my daily life. In this case, I met each of the donor females via a different internet social network.

There will be an accompanying release of 33 unique large format public works, one placed in each of the London boroughs. This is indicative of a new direction for me, marrying my 'street art' and 'fine art photography' careers into one unified practice.

The edition consists of 85 20x16 inch silver gelatine photographs (plus 4 selenium toned Artist proofs) on 300gsm fibre based semigloss paper. Each piece is individually hand printed by myself in the darkroom from a digital internegative. The edition size is intentionally large in order to keep the price low and enable ordinary people to afford to purchase a print during the current economic climate.

Tags: ArtPolitic

Synthesis #1/1, originally uploaded by Mike Marcus.

A rough sketch for the forthcoming "Synthesis" series - A digital hybrid between a human and a mannequin.

Tags: ArtPolitic

Synthesis #1/1, originally uploaded by Mike Marcus.

A rough sketch for the forthcoming "Synthesis" series - A digital hybrid between a human and a mannequin.

Tags: ArtPolitic

In the past month I have had a solo exhibition (in collaboration with the wonderful Amie Slavin), marketed an edition of prints and have been involved to some extent or another in three group shows. All these are in some way linked to the "urban art" scene.

Urban art is what you have to call street art when it is put in a gallery in order to avoid hypocrisy. The scene's spiritual home is London and over the past four or five years, it has grown exponentially. There is an established and very conscientious fan base who travel the world attending exhibitions and que outside galleries overnight to have a chance of buying the latest canvas. These collectors have become so numerous and demand so great that Banksy's latest print release sold out within seconds leading to a catastrophic collapse of the publishers database.

Obviously this has had an impact on the street where there have been hundreds of new artists producing lookalike work in an attempt to cash in on the gold rush.

Uncle Sam, originally uploaded by Sandrine Plasseraud.

Like many fine artists eventually do, I have reached a point where I want to devote myself to my practice full time. In order to do this, I need to make enough money through public funding and print sales to cover my needs for rent, food, art materials and the occasional beer. Obviously the urban art scene is a good place to target because so much money is being spent. For this reason I devoted much of the past month to marketing myself in this sector.

As this period draws to a close, I have to say that I have been left a little disappointed. Of the long conversations I have had with collectors and dealers, I have come to the conclusion that the scene wants to consume (both commercially and intellectually) safe art. Because of the supreme lack of imagination shown by its aficionados, todays urban art seems to be a retrospective of yesterdays street art, a parody of itself.

What happened to the radical movement where we could say what we wanted without being moderated by galleries? Weren't we meant to be subversive? These days it seems that we are more conservative than the art establishment which we reacted against. Somewhere during the change from "street" to "urban", the movement lost its passion and subsequently its message.

I wanted to comment on this so rather than bring the street to the gallery, I brought the gallery to the street. I went outside and sprayed little red dots on all the art I could find. The kind that galleries use to show when a piece has been sold.

Wrong suit, Clark - L.E.T., originally uploaded by Sandrine Plasseraud.

Tags: ArtPolitic

In the past month I have had a solo exhibition (in collaboration with the wonderful Amie Slavin), marketed an edition of prints and have been involved to some extent or another in three group shows. All these are in some way linked to the "urban art" scene.

Urban art is what you have to call street art when it is put in a gallery in order to avoid hypocrisy. The scene's spiritual home is London and over the past four or five years, it has grown exponentially. There is an established and very conscientious fan base who travel the world attending exhibitions and que outside galleries overnight to have a chance of buying the latest canvas. These collectors have become so numerous and demand so great that Banksy's latest print release sold out within seconds leading to a catastrophic collapse of the publishers database.

Obviously this has had an impact on the street where there have been hundreds of new artists producing lookalike work in an attempt to cash in on the gold rush.

Uncle Sam, originally uploaded by Sandrine Plasseraud.

Like many fine artists eventually do, I have reached a point where I want to devote myself to my practice full time. In order to do this, I need to make enough money through public funding and print sales to cover my needs for rent, food, art materials and the occasional beer. Obviously the urban art scene is a good place to target because so much money is being spent. For this reason I devoted much of the past month to marketing myself in this sector.

As this period draws to a close, I have to say that I have been left a little disappointed. Of the long conversations I have had with collectors and dealers, I have come to the conclusion that the scene wants to consume (both commercially and intellectually) safe art. Because of the supreme lack of imagination shown by its aficionados, todays urban art seems to be a retrospective of yesterdays street art, a parody of itself.

What happened to the radical movement where we could say what we wanted without being moderated by galleries? Weren't we meant to be subversive? These days it seems that we are more conservative than the art establishment which we reacted against. Somewhere during the change from "street" to "urban", the movement lost its passion and subsequently its message.

I wanted to comment on this so rather than bring the street to the gallery, I brought the gallery to the street. I went outside and sprayed little red dots on all the art I could find. The kind that galleries use to show when a piece has been sold.

Wrong suit, Clark - L.E.T., originally uploaded by Sandrine Plasseraud.

Tags: ArtPolitic

new print release, originally uploaded by Mike Marcus.

55.5 x 75 cm 6 colour screen print on 280gsm velvet black Somerset paper.
Edition of 35, signed and numbered.

For more information or to order, contact Jealous Gallery.

Tags: ArtPolitic

new print release, originally uploaded by Mike Marcus.

55.5 x 75 cm 6 colour screen print on 280gsm velvet black Somerset paper.
Edition of 35, signed and numbered.

For more information or to order, contact Jealous Gallery.

Tags: ArtPolitic

cs7f, originally uploaded by Mike Marcus.

CS is the most common form of tear gas. Its use by military forces is forbidden under the Geneva Convention and the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1997. However during the first year of the Al-Aqsa intifada alone the Israeli Defense Forces used 120,000 tear gas grenades against Palestinians as a form of racially motivated collective punishment.

Although the Jews own encounter with the gas chambers makes the use of chemical warfare notable for its irony, it is only one example of many human rights abuses exercised by Israel during its 41 years of military occupation.

To encourage awareness of the continuing violations enacted by my people against a weak and vulnerable minority and to register my protest, as an ethnic Jew against the injustices carried out in my name, I exposed myself to CS gas and photographed the results.

I had no other way to cry.

סי . אס . הוא סוג גז מדמיע הכי נפוץ . השימוש בו על ידי כוחות צבאיים אסור לפי אמנת ג'נבה ולפי וועדת נשקים כימיים משנת 1997 . למרות זאת בזמן שנה ראשונה של אינתיפאדת אל עקצה בלבד כוחות צבא הגנה לישראל השתמשו ב120000 רימוני גז מדמיע כנגד פלסטינאים כסוג של עונש קבוצתי על רקע גזעי

למרות שליהודים הסטוריה עם תאי הגזים השימוש בגז המדמיע הוא אירוני וזוהי רק דוגמה אחת לשיבושי זכויות בני האדם הרבים שנעשים על ידי ישראל במשך 41 שנות כיבוש

על מנת לעודד מודעות להפרות המתמשכות על ידי האנשים שלי כנגד מיעוט חלש ופגיע ולציין את המחאה שלי כיהודי כנגד האי צדק המתנהל בשמי , אני חשפתי את עצמי לגז סי.אס. וצילמתי את התוצאות

לא הייתה לי דרך אחרת לבכות

Tags: ArtPolitic