Upcoming solo show at Museum of Contemporary Art Rome latest indicia of Marcus Jansen’s growing international recognition and acclaim (08-13-14)
The Museum of Contemporary Art Rome is the oldest museum in Italy. In 2015, the MACRO is giving its stamp of approval to local artist Marcus Jansen when it hosts a solo exhibition of his work. In fact, the MACRO’s curator has even invited Jansen for a short Villa residency in Rome to produce special works in Italy.
Nestled among 19th-century apartment buildings, the MACRO was fashioned between 1999 and December of 2010 by French architect Odile Decq from a disused Peroni beer plant that was in active production until 1971. One of the few examples of industrial archaeology in the Italian capital, the 
building was designed at the beginning of the twentieth century by Gustavo Giovannoni. Its permanent collection includes a selection of some of the most significant expressions of the Italian art scene since the 1960s. Among other things, it houses an archive of the works of the postmodern painter and collagist Mario Schifano. MACRO aims to be more active, daring and fun than the stodgy
museums that dot the Italian landscape. For example, it boasts a daring rooftop terrace, catwalks and mirrored-wall lavatories which feature translucent plastic sinks that flash different neon/UV colors as you use them. In the car park, you can see the remains of an ancient Roman house unearthed during the restoration.
The exhibition, whose dates are yet to be announced, is being coordinated by Jansen’s Milan gallery representatives, Galleria Bianca Maria Rizzi & Matthias Ritter, which hosted his first solo show in Italy in November of 2013 after Jansen won the Arte Laguna Prize in Venice. The show caught the attention of Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone, prompting Italy’s leading art magazine, Arte and Espoarte , to ask in a headline, “Marcus Jansen, a new star is born?”
Prior to the MACRO show, Jansen will have a solo show opening October 23, 2014 in London, which is being organized by Lazarides Rathbone, which gained fame as Banksy’s dealer.
Jansen possesses the stature of Fort Myers’ most 
internationally-recognized painter. More, he is widely considered by art critics, commentators and media alike as one of the most important Expressive painters on the contemporary art scene. He is the first Florida resident to make the cover of the prestigious New American Painting publication. He was chosen for that honor in 2011 by Dan Cameron, founder of the U.S. Biennial Inc., the largest biennial art show in the Unites States.
Jansen’s career spans more than 30 years. He got his start in art when at the urging of graffiti art legend WEST ONE, Jansen began sketching and painting on walls in Europe after his return from a trip home to his birth place in New York City. But it was a 2005 solo exhibition in Paris at Art Au Garage called “Voice of a Generation” that first 
garnered him international attention and recognition. Since then, he has been collected by museums in Asia, South America, Russia and the United States, been chosen by Absolut Vodka for their exclusive Absolut Blank worldwide marketing campaign, and has won several prestigious international art competitions. Most recently, Jansen was chosen as a finalist in last year’s Fleurieu Art Prize Biennale in Australia by Nigel Hurst, Director and Chief Executive of Saatchi Gallery London. The Fleurieu Art Prize is the highest valued landscape painting prize anywhere in the world. At his first international auction in the Netherlands earlier this year, Jansen’s work outperformed paintings by artists like Jeff Koons and Keith Haring.
Locally, Jansen skyrocketed to fame as a result of his solo show, A Painter’s Allegory, at the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center in 2011. More than 4,500 people attended the unforgettable and flamboyant opening reception which, according to director Jim Griffith, was “the most attended art reception in the history of the Center.” Area art lovers, Jansen enthusiasts and collectors can preview new works and old standards at Jansen’s studio headquarters, UNIT A Contemporary Art Space, which is open to the public from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and from 6 to 10 p.m. on the first Friday of each month during Art Walk.
