Mark Jenkins

This article is about the artist. For the musician, see Mark Jenkins (musician).

"Call Waiting"

Mark Jenkins (born 1970 in Alexandria, Virginia ) is an American artist most widely known for the street installations he creates using box sealing tape. In addition to creating art, he also teaches his sculpture techniques through workshops in cities he visits. He currently lives in Washington, DC.

Philosophy

Jenkins' practice of street art is to use the "street as a stage" where passersby become actors. Many of his installations have resulted in intervention by the authorities whom he also regards as actors. Most of his early outdoor works were non-commissioned.

Jenkins said the following about the illegal aspects of street art during an interview with art critic Brian Sherwin, "There is opposition, and risk, but I think that just shows that street art is the sort of frontier where the leading edge really does have to chew through the ice. And it's good for people to remember public space is a battleground, with the government, advertisers and artists all mixing and mashing, and even now the strange cross-pollination taking place as street artists sometimes become brands, and brands camouflaging as street art creating complex hybrids or impersonators. I think it's understanding the strangeness of the playing field where you'll realize that painting street artists, writers, as the bad guys is a shallow view. As for the old bronzes, I really don't see them as part of what's going on in the dialogue unless addressed by a new intervention. “^[1]

Projects

Embed Series

Meterpop

Jenkins' first street project was a series of clear tape casts made from his body that he installed on the streets in Rio de Janeiro (2003). In 2005 he began working with Sandra Fernandez on theStorker Project, a series where tape "babies" are "dropped" in different cities. ^[2] In 2006 Jenkins began dressing his casts to create hyper realistic sculptures. (Embed Series). Other outdoor projects include Meterpops (2005), Traffic-Go-Round (2007)^[3], and Flowersigns (2007). He collaborated with Greenpeace in 2008 with the "Plight of the Polar Bears" street installation. In 2010 he curated "Les Grandes Traversees" in Bordeaux, France.

Indoors Jenkins has shown with Carmichael Gallery (LA) and Lazarides Gallery (UK) and has had solo shows in cities including Tokyo, Vienna, NYC, LA, and London. He has participated in group shows including Dublin Contemporary 2011, Kusthalle Wien "Street and Studio", Kunsthalle Orebro "Subglob 2" and Taubman Museum "Recordings".

He has held workshops in cities including Moscow, St Petersburg, Belgrade, Tashkent, Seoul, and Prato.

Books

• Glazed Paradise (ROJO)
• Outcasts (Lazarides Gallery)

References

1. ^ myartspace>blog: Art Space Talk: Mark Jenkins
2. ^ Mark Jenkins: Storker Project
3. ^ Mark Jenkins: Traffic Go Round

External links

• Jenkins website
• tapesculpture.org Jenkins tape-casting tutorial
• Myartspace (interview 2006)
• The Morning News (interview 2005)
• Washington Post (feature 2006)
• Jenkins/Greenpeace collaboration (article/video 2007)
• NPR (radio 2011)

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Name	Jenkins, Mark
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Date of birth	1970
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