From Gulf War Veteran to Acclaimed Painter
a biography by the Marcus Antonius Jansen TEAM



New York City native, Marcus Antonius Jansen proves that the word "soldier" can have various meanings.

A converted Gulf War Veteran who studied painting and design in Germany and fluent in the German language, Jansen transformed his life in 1997 after his eight year military discharge from a Sergeant in the US Military to now an international acclaimed painter.

Some may remember Jansen as the Ford Motor Company commissioned artist that gained national attention through local media, where Jansen was chosen as Ford's Centennial artist who commissioned him to paint four historic works of art that were presented at the Charles H. Wright Museum in Detroit.

Jansen, 38, a mid-career artist, has become a leader in a modern Urban Contemporary movement that brings young and old, urban and mainstream onto one platform with his unmistakable gritty urban images.

In less then three years Jansen became the poster boy on the contemporary art scene of SW Florida while residing in Fort Myers. He has exhibited alongside SW Florida resident and world renowned artist Robert Rauschenberg and has had his work auctioned by Hollywood actress, Sharon Stone. He has appeared on virtually every media magazine and newspaper in the region including on the cover of the Fort Myers Magazine, Expressions Magazine WGCU Arts Edition, The News-Press and Rivers Weekly Captiva Island.

Jansen left a mark, winning "best of artists and artisans" competition for the State of Florida with Kennedy Promotion Books and recently was included in the Tampa Museum Biennial Florida statewide competition, titled "under/current/ over/view 8", at the Tampa Museum of Art. His work can be found in the collections of the Tampa Museum of Art and Southwest Florida Museum of History who commissioned Jansen for eleven works and featured his unique modern urban expressionism in a solo show called "Fort Myers, an Urban Perspective" in 2005.

Supported by Bruce George (Co-Founder of def Poetry Jam and Ebony Energy Entertainment), Jansen's work is requested by agencies and prestigious colleges in the US for research such as the California School of Arts in San Francisco. His work hangs among permanent collections at Tuskegee University in Alabama and the Oasis Towers in Fort Myers which is owned by investor and renowned art collector Jorge Perez.

Jansen's notoriety does not stop within US borders. As winner of the Primio "ALBA 2007 Award" in Ferrera, Italy, Jansen made his mark with his exclusive Jansen Gallery that opened in March 2005 in the prestigious Le Marais art district of Paris……..an American art gallery ran by Gallerist and ex TV Producer Jean Marc Pontet. Jansen is solely committed to the gallery and his permanent ongoing exhibition. He recently held a solo show called "Voice of a Generation" that gained media attention from French CNN LCI TV that broadcasted a two minute interview with the artist on French Television as well as various other media outlets in France. Known in Paris, France as the American "Pope" of Urban Expressionism, Jansen is also a finalist at the International Biennial Print & Drawing Exhibition and in the permanent collection of the National Museum of Fine Art in Taiwan since 2006.

He is included in the recently published boo k, "Famous 100 Contemporary Artists", published by World of Art Books London UK that includes reviews by Pierre Restany and other internationally renowned art critics. His work is represented by Lawrence Asher Gallery in Los Angeles and American Art Gallery in Paris, France.

His first solo book is to be released at the end of 2006 and holds an introduction by renowned digital artist and Andy Warhol's digital instructor, Laurence Gartel, and an essay by Dr. Gerri Reaves.

Modern Urban-Expressionism
Ft. Myers, Florida U.S.A
t: 239.369.0846
f: 239.369.0846
info@marcusjansen.com
www.marcusjansen.com

EUROPE:
American Art Gallery
Jansen Urban-Expressionism
14 rue des Jardins St. Paul
75004 Paris, France
Tel: +33 (0) 140 279 687



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