Mark Jenkins - Volta NYC Art Fair 2011
Artist: Mark Jenkins
Gallery: Carmichael Gallery
My installations with hyper realistic figures tend to get the most interesting response. They turn the city into a stage. My favorite was one in Sweden where I installed a figure with balloons coming out of his back floating face down in the canal and a pink, bear-headed girl figure watching from the bridge. It was surreal – and even more so when a rescue unit arrived and a diver swam out to save the sculpture. Some say it was careless to do this installation, but I thought I’d made it surreal enough to defuse the reality of it. That said, (the viewers’ response) does become part of the art.
The installation’s geographic/cultural setting can cause things to play out differently. In more tense climates, this sort of work hits harder. In Palestine, a pair of legs sticking out of a dumpster generated a mob of people shouting at me. In DC, a figure rummaging through the garbage with a polar bear head shut down the metro and an elementary school. But in London, people see something like this and love it. Even the cops take photos.
Mark Jenkins - Volta NYC Art Fair 2011
Artist: Mark Jenkins
Gallery: Carmichael Gallery
My installations with hyper realistic figures tend to get the most interesting response. They turn the city into a stage. My favorite was one in Sweden where I installed a figure with balloons coming out of his back floating face down in the canal and a pink, bear-headed girl figure watching from the bridge. It was surreal – and even more so when a rescue unit arrived and a diver swam out to save the sculpture. Some say it was careless to do this installation, but I thought I’d made it surreal enough to defuse the reality of it. That said, (the viewers’ response) does become part of the art.
The installation’s geographic/cultural setting can cause things to play out differently. In more tense climates, this sort of work hits harder. In Palestine, a pair of legs sticking out of a dumpster generated a mob of people shouting at me. In DC, a figure rummaging through the garbage with a polar bear head shut down the metro and an elementary school. But in London, people see something like this and love it. Even the cops take photos.