caption birth_place training nationality field birth_date works image article_title name
mcgowan 2013 in his taxi in westminster , 22 june clapham , london , , england b.a. of arts degree in fine arts , at camberwell college british performance political activist , installation art , shock art . art , video blogger , social commentator , 9 june 1964 '' a robbery '' '' the war machine '' '' westmonster this '' is not a recession , it 's file : artisttaxidriver.gif mark mcgowan -lrb- performance artist -rrb-
 mark mcgowan
mark mcgowan -lrb- performance artist -rrb-

mark mcgowan -lrb- born 9 june 1964 -rrb- is a british street artist , performance artist and prominent public protester who has gone by the artist name chunky mark and more recently the artist taxi driver .
by profession , mcgowan is a london taxi driver and occasional university speaker and arts tutor .
mcgowan is known internationally for his performance art including shock art , street art and installation art , and as a stuntman , internet personality , video blogger , social commentator , social critic , satirist , political activist , peace activist , and an anti-establishment , anti-war , anti-capitalist anti-monarchist and anti-power elite protester .
under the artist name `` chunky mark '' , mcgowan entered the mainstream news in the early 2000s for his unconventional , satirical , sometimes comedic and/or ironic , and often absurd approach to public protest and demonstration .
chunky mark conducted hundreds of performances in the uk and dozens around the world , stirring up some international attention , further debate on what `` art really is '' , controversy ; and both support and mockery alike from intellectuals , the art world , private corporations , the police , the military , the tabloids and the public .
often mcgowan has not applied for police permission beforehand .
mcgowan abandoned the chunky mark persona in late 2010 and fully adopted the `` artist taxi driver '' persona for his web blog on youtube , where he films himself alone in his taxi between fares , often wearing dark sunglasses , and in which he rants passionately and emotionally about the news and issues of the day .
the artist taxi driver 's official youtube channel -lrb- still under the `` chunkymark '' name -rrb- by 2013 had thousands of videos made by mcgowan , with almost 30,000 subscribers , and his most popular video viewed 220,000 times .
