Marcus Jansen
Marcus Jansen a.k.a. Marcus Antonius Jansen (born 1968) is an American painter. He attended the Kunstgewerbe Schule Berufskolleg für Technik und Medien am Platz der Republik in Mönchengladbach, Germany in 1985, where he spent most of his young adult years. The city was also his father's birthplace. Jansen later became a leading combatant of the avant-garde. Jansen was noted in the book "Modern Urban-Expressionism, the art of Marcus Antonius Jansen" published in 2006 as the innovator of Modern expressionism by Art Historian and Director of the American Vanguard Exhibit Europe Jerome A. Donson. Donson presented  new action painting which travelled widely through Eastern Europe and major European capitals (Vienna, London, Salzburg, Belgrade). Some of the artists included Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Grace Hatigen, Franz Kline, and Jack Tworkov, to name a few. Life. Jansen was born into a Caribbean family in the South Bronx borough of New York City where he first resided with his family in the Soundview section on 880 Boynton Ave. His family later moved to Queens NY where he took part in his first art exhibition at the Lever House in Manhattan at age six after  his painting of a lion was selected by a local students school competition while living in Laurelton, Queens, NY. He was raised bilingual by a father from Germany and mother from Jamaica and was educated and later raised in Germany where he experienced severe racism as the only child of color in his new school. He traveled most of Western Europe and saw his first Art catalog by Robert Rauschenberg which excited him about Art. Jansen spent most of his time overseas in Germany, Netherlands and France during his time in Europe. In 1986 in visits back home Jansen was  introduced to New York Graffiti artist WEST, West Rubinstein by his Godmother Florence Parkinson in Manhattan who became a first major influence on Jansen's art career as a teen. Jansen was later supported early on by German VIVA TV talk show host and musician Daisy Dee during his time in Germany. He returned to painting after his military discharge in 1997. His decision was much affected by his service during 1990-91 where he was part of the Gulf War Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm with Combat Airborne Engineering Units at Fort Bragg NC. Jansen started selling his  art in Manhattan in 1999 on the corner of prince street and W. Broadway which the 2016 art documentary film "Examine and Report" captures. His international career took off with a commission by Absolut Vodka, immediately after his late wife's sudden death in 2011, leaving Jansen with their two sons. Jansen's first book, "Modern Urban-Expressionism" was published in 2006. Jansen has shown in exhibitions in Russia, South Africa, Europe, South America and Asia. In 2008, Jansen was commissioned by Warner Brothers Hollywood for an interpretation of the 1939 story "The Wizard of Oz" honoring the company's  80th Anniversary and Absolut Vodka. Jansen also is founder of the Marcus Jansen Foundation Fund located in Fort Myers, Florida. Art. Jansen's solo museum exhibitions include the La Triennale di Milano Museum, Milan Italy, the Museum Zitadelle, Berlin, Germany and the Cornell Fine Arts Museum at Rollins College in Winter Park Florida. His museum group exhibitions and permanent collections include the University of Michigan Museum Of Art Michigan, The Bronx Museum of Art, Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Boca Raton Museum of Art, the Kallmann-Museum, Ismaning, Munich, the Housatonic Museum of Art, CT, The Baker Museum, Naples, The  National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, The New Britain Museum of American Art, The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. He is represented by Almine Rech located in Paris, London, Shanghai, Brussels and New York as well as by Richard Beavers Gallery from Brooklyn. Film. A documentary film by John Scoular, "Marcus Jansen Examine and Report", had its world premiere at the Fort Myers Film Festival and was awarded Best Art TV Pilot Documentary by the East Hampton TV Festival. The film is available on Amazon Prime Video. Books. Skira Editore in Milan published the monograph "Marcus Jansen DECADE" in 2015 . Hirmer Verlag GMBH published the monograph "Marcus Jansen "AFTERMATH" in 2017. Collections. Public Collections include: The Bronx Museum of Art, University of Michigan Museum of Art, New Britain Museum of American Art, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Housatonic Museum of Art, Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Ulyanovsk Museum Fine Arts, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Perm Museum of Contemporary Art, Russia, Smithsonian Institution, U.S. Department of State, Art in Embassies Program, UNESCO in Paris, France.