News
SEPTEMBER 2012: EXODUS I
During September Lyon produced an extensive film-based large format essay on the stadiums of the London 2012 Games. He was given exclusive access to the venues by games Photo Chief Bob Martin and the IPC. The body of work will form a 24 picture sound and image installation exhibition that is planned for 2013/2014. The completion of this project coincided with the birth of his second child Arthur Lyon, a brother to Florence and a son to Bel…suffice it to say the whole Lyon clan are delighted.
EXODUS I – Damascus, Syria – 2009
In the early 21st century the unstoppable expansion of digital and satellite information has empowered the citizen, and challenges the state’s ability to control opinions, actions and environments. This migration of information from political power bases to the people is the harbinger of significant change in many authoritarian societies. Edition of 7.…
AUGUST 2012: EXODUS VIII
Lyon launches Exodus VIII to coincide with the close of his successful 2012 Open Studios. Over 200 visitors made the journey to the Glassworks in central London for bespoke guided tours of recent artwork and the private gallery. In turn, final artist proofs of the latest series Sky, Sea, Shore, created on the island paradise of Mustique, have been produced at Lyon’s art printers, Spectrum, and the first edition prints have been shipped to collectors. In addition Lyon’s pre-production team are now working on the final details of an extensive film-based large format body of work to be shot around the human story of the Paralympic Games in London during late August and early September.
EXODUS VIII – Khayletisha, Cape Flats, South Africa – 2011
As the economies of developing nations are transformed by the power and lure of the urban space, ever increasing waves of migration from rural hinterlands transform the city edge. Despite being predominantly seen from abroad as places of desperate poverty and crime, the townships of the Western Cape are also vibrant hubs of creative endeavour and unshackled entrepreneurship. However, will the challenge of future enhanced human freedom be possible with a backdrop of political mismanagement and institutionalised corruption? With enlightened leadership and policies designed to harness the incredible energy of these edge cities the modern world promises a road out of subsistence to more engaged and sustainable communities. Edition of 7…
July 2012: Open Studio Invitation
Marcus Lyon is delighted to invite all those interested in his art to visit The Glassworks Gallery, to attend one of a series of Open Studio days during the month of July. To accept this invitation and arrange a visit including a private tour, at a time of your convenience, please RSVP by email lyon@marcuslyon.com or call +44(0)20 7735 9933. On show will be the BRIC and Exodus series before they leave for exhibition at The Inception Gallery during November and Paris Photo. Additionally, Lyon will be unveiling his latest works in development, Hinterland and Sky, Shore, Sea.
The Glassworks, 1c Montford Place, Kennington, SE11 5DE.
EXODUS II – Dubai, UAE – 2011
As our societies morph and change with economic prosperity our impact on the natural world intensifies. Despite being predominantly a consumer interaction the use of the motor vehicle is often framed in terms of the right to freedom of movement. However, it directly challenges our ability to control our consumption of finite resources, which in turn will limit the human freedoms of the future. Edition of 7…
June 2012: Love Art London – Studio visit
Love Art London will be visiting Lyon’s Studio, The Glassworks, on the 12th of June. Love Art London’s influential founder, visionary and art aficionado, Chris Pensa will lead a unique tour that will include an overview of Exodus, BRICs, Stickmen and Trabants. In addition the event will allow access to an exclusive first preview of Lyon’s work in development, Hinterlands: an exploration of the city edge and its defining role in the geography of the urban space.
Exodus III, London, UK – 2010
Chongqing is the fastest-growing urban mass on the planet. At over 31 million, its population is bigger than that of Peru or Iraq, with half a million more arriving every year. The streets hum with an army of 100,000 “bang bang men” weaving through the urban sprawl, transporting goods strung over their backs on their bamboo sticks. Chongqing epitomizes the shift of man as a rural to an urban being. Set on the confluence of the Jialing and the Yangtze rivers the city became a provisional capital during WII as its heavy fog protected against the Japanese airforce. In the nineties Chongqing was used by China to spearhead development of its Western regions. According to the World Bank, 16 of the planet’s 20 dirtiest cities are in China and Chongqing is one of the worst. Allegedly the city produces 3,500 tons of waste every day. None is recycled. Edition of 7.
…
May 2012: Paralympic Commission for The Cinnamon Club
Lyon has been commissioned by award winning chef Vivek Singh and Priyanka Sharma of the Cinnamon Group to produce an exhibition from June to September of Lyon’s visual exploration of the inspiration and diversity of the Paralympic Games over the last 16 years. The work will be based on photographic works drawn from the previous four games in Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008. The show will run in the group’s city location at 6 Devonshire Square to coincide with the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympic Games. Cinnamon Club.
Anzac Bridge, Sydney, Australia – 2000
Multiple layers of the human spirit pervade all aspects of the Paralympic movement. Elite athletes from across the globe gather together to underline the abilities of those society often excludes and views as different. Our perceptions are broken, our spirits are lifted and we see that triumph is everywhere: from the blind long jumpers to the the wheelchair athletes, and from the multiple layers of support staff and officials to the unsung coaches and physios.The Paralympics are a pinnacle of human endeavour and sacrifice.…
April 2012: Stiglitz Leadership Talk
Lyon has delivered a prestigious Stiglitz Leadership Talk. Focusing in on his photographic journey from rural Britain to the mega cities of the developing world he spoke on a wide range of subjects from his artistic vision to international development and from issues of child labour to the astonishing entrepreneurial opportunities manifest in the urban envronment. Stiglitz Lyon Talk
Child Cane Worker, Mexico – 1989
Millions of extraordinary children across the globe work for their living. In 2002 UNICEF published figures stating that across the planet as many as 100m children live, work or sleep on the streets of our cities. Placed in a geographically defined space, this army of underage workers represents the 12th largest country in the world. In the late 80’s and early 90’s Lyon undertook significant reportage work on the issues of child labour in Latin America, Africa and Asia leading to his present role as chairman of the internationally recognized think tank and advocacy agency the Consortium for Street Children.
…
March 2012: BRICs Nominated for Prix Pictet
The BRIC series has been nominated for the prestigious Prix Pictet: the world’s leading photography prize in sustainability. The theme for this year’s prize is Power. This prestigious award can only be won though a nomination process that is driven by key curators and opinion formers in the the global art world. The shortlist will be announced in July and the final prize winners are expected to be announced in October.
BRIC I – Santa Teresa, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – 2009
Towering behind the iconic golden beaches and 70’s skyscrapers of coastal Rio lie the perilously steep and dense urban expansions Brazilians call favelas. Constructed from all manner of recycled and scavenged materials, the majority use electricity illegally tapped from the public grid. Unlike the ghettos of the US, the favelas exist due to economic forces rather than because of ethnic or cultural separation. Their origins date from the late 19th century but the onset of the era of explosive growth was in the 1940s, when President Getúlio Vargas‘s industrialization drive drew hundreds of thousands of migrants into the city. However, despite extensive social deprivation, the favelas have been and continue to be a hotbed of creative energy and cultural invention. Today, 1 in 4 Cariocas, as inhabitants of Rio are called, live in these road less and unregulated hillside shantytowns. Edition of 10
…
February 2012: Paralympic Commission & Exhibition at Homerton Hospital
Lyon has been commissioned by Art Curator Shaun Caton to produce an iconic large-scale image for the Olympic Hospital, Homerton Hope, in the London Borough of Hackney. The Hospital will also be holding an exhibition from June to September of Lyon’s 16 year visual exploration of the inspiration and diversity of the Paralympic Games. The work will be based on photographic works drawn from the previous four games in Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008.
The Butterfly, Sydney, Australia – 2000
Multiple layers of the human spirit pervade all aspects of the Paralympic movement. Elite athletes from across the globe gather together to underline the abilities of those society often excludes and views as different. Our perceptions are broken, our spirits are lifted and we see that triumph is everywhere: from the blind long jumpers to the the wheelchair athletes, and from the multiple layers of support staff and officials to the unsung coaches and physios.The Paralympics are a pinnacle of human endeavour and sacrifice.…
January 2012: Astra Zeneca science/art commission
The Science/Art collaboration with the Infectious Disease and Oncology research scientists at Astra Zeneca’s Waltham, Massachusetts laboratories has been successfully realized. These enormous collaborative artworks now hang in both AZ’s research centre and in their corporate board room in London. Born out of an art residency in the summer of 2011 these images explore the interface between the humanity and science in the early 21st century.
How do chemicals feel – 2012
In all visual representations of information preconceived structures and languages control perceptions. In the world of the science laboratory these parameters manifest themselves not only to define but also limit the vocabulary of colour, symbol and form. Built from multiple layers, How do chemicals feel provokes a viewpoint at odds with conventional practice and in turn asks questions about which questions we ask.…
December 2011: Exodus exhibits at Arle
Arle Capital Partners have chosen Lyon’s Exodus series for their first art in residence at their St James’s head office. Additionally they have commissioned Lyon to create a series of 48 large format 5 x 4 film based portraits starting in 2012. The series will explore the full breadth of human resource in their portfolio of companies. Lyon will be given full artistic control over the body of work which will be exhibited at The Avenue in April 2012.
Exodus III – London, UK – 2010
As human ability to circumnavigate the globe increases exponentially we challenge our ability to define our identities geographically. The global citizens of airport lounges and business hotels ascend to another world where the realities of real community become strangely mixed with notions of belonging to a different society of frequent flyer points and concierge services. Edition of 7.
…
November 2011: BRIC II São Paulo in New York Auction
BRIC II São Paulo has been consigned to the Latin American Auction at Phillips de Pury, New York on 04.11.11. This annual auction represents the best of contemporary art from across the continent. The Lyon will be sold alongside works by Varejão, Muniz and Salgado. BRIC II, 2008 explores the exponential rise of the southern hemisphere’s largest and richest city from the rural obscurity of a town with 250,000 inhabitants in 1911 to the megacity of 21 million today. The print is the 5th from the edition of 10.
BRIC II – Centro, São Paulo, Brazil – 2008
São Paulo officially became a city in 1711 having been founded in 1554. Its origins as the urban powerhouse of Latin America date from the economic prosperity created by the coffee industry in the 19th century. Ever increasing waves, of predominantly European immigrants during the first half of the 20th century have swelled the city’s population from 250,000 in 1900, to 20.1m today. The late 20th century has seen São Paulo become the business hub of South America and enter the top 20 of the world’s richest cities. Its exponential growth has spawned a myriad of social problems including the dual urban evils of pollution and crime. Edition of 10.…
October 2011: Exodus IV at Bottletop Auction
Exodus IV was auctioned alongside work by Picasso, the Chapman’s, Taylor-Wood and Vik Muniz at the 2011 Full Circle Event in central London for the Bottletop Foundation(www.bottletop.org). The funds raised will support projects in urban Brazil that empower local communities with work and economic development. Exodus images have also been donated to support the capital campaign for new buildings at the Photographer’s Gallery (www.photonet.org.uk) and for the ground breaking Photovoice (www.photovoice.org).
Exodus IV – Hong Kong, China – 2010
Driven by rampant consumer demand Southern China has become the workshop of the world. As millions migrate from rural China to the factories of Guangzhou to manufacture goods, consumers hoard gadgets and define themselves through the ownership of a cornucopia of products transported across the globe in colourful metal boxes. Edition of 7.…
September 2011: Astra Zeneca science/art residency and commission
Lyon has been commissioned to produce 3 large-scale artworks in collaboration with Astra Zeneca’s Infectious Disease and Oncology scientists in Waltham, Massachusetts, USA. The process will involve a residency in the US followed by a creative process, led by the artist from his studios in London, that will endeavour to break through the silo-ed worlds of science and art to produce imagery that informs and inspires both spaces.
Everybody has a compound – 2011
Alone in a lab, working on ever descending threads of exploration and experimentation, do scientists risk loosing a critical connection with the human condition? Without this link science is adrift; disconnected from the life-changing role that it plays in communities and families across the globe. The image Everybody has a compound allows the collaborative process to come to life through the projection of the written hopes and aspirations of AZ employees layered onto an extended matrix of chemical compounds from the company’s database: each bottle a potential key to a cure for a human illness or disease.…
August 2011: 01/08/11 – 14/09/11 Exodus Exhibition at 1508
Exodus launches at The Great Room, 1508 in central London. In Exodus, Lyon explores the most significant migrations of the early 21st Century. As the ability of humans, goods and services to circumnavigate the planet increases exponentially we are left disconnected from a simple view of our common identity. Indeed, as our economic and geo-political differences intensify the unstoppable movement and expansion of actual and digital assets challenge both the power of the individual in society, the state and corporations to control opinions, actions and environment. Exodus provokes questions concerning the biggest changes in contemporary society through large-scale representations of the key themes that influence globalisation and the modern world.
EXODUS VI – West Lamma Channel, South China Sea – 2011
The movement of goods by sea is an unseen migration of raw materials and products around the planet. Covering 71% of the planets surface the ocean is temporary home to 90% of global cargo (7.4 billion tons of goods) transported in a fleet of 70,000 vessels. Wrapped, packed and contained the waters of the world bear witness to mankind’s desire to move mountains in the name of progress. Edition of 7.
…