Grace Before Jones Art Exhibition - a-n The Artists Information Company

Venue: Nottingham Contemporary
Location: East Midlands

Marcus Clarke is a Nottingham Native who also lives in the City. He went to Mansfield College of Art and is a regular exhibiting visual artist (marcusclarkeart website and youtube channel) as well as a longstanding fan of Grace Jones. His Mum Peggy is a self taught water colourist and oil painter also living in Nottingham City. She had hardly heard of Grace Jones. They visited the exhibition together on its opening day, Saturday 26th September 2020. The video best explains the shared experience. Marcus Clarke also comments: The impact Grace Jones’s album, Island Life had on me around 1980 when the former manager of Osibisa (always a Woyaya fan) introduced it to me while I was working as a sound man in the Channel Islands, I didn’t think could ever be repeated but upon returning from a trip to NYC in 1982 I was shown this video by a friend. Grace Jones – A One Man Show. The visual impact, originality and pure imagination of it amazed me. It reminded me of why I had wanted to be an Artist in the first place, a sound man even and what had always fascinated me about Theatre and drawn me to it. I was then working for Andrew LLoyd Webber on the West End Theatre Production of Song and Dance. I programmed, code wrote, show ran and looked after the Apple II controlled projected photo slide images of NYC that Designer David Hersey had employed as a scenery backdrop to the stage setting of Tell me on a Sunday, part 1. So many things came together for me as a Visual Artist and Filmmaker in experiencing this video, this masterpiece that I am forever grateful to all involved in making it. Its partly why I do what I do and why I want to share it. Enjoy. See the video here

marcus clarke

Marcus was born in the East End of London. Grew up in Canada and Nottingham where he now lives. On the way he was Care Experienced for 4 yrs. Including in two National Children's Homes. See Observer Newspaper Article, Marcus Clarke, in 'the Review' right. Marcus says: "I use Puppets, Puppet Making materials, tools and glues from my world of work as a Professional Puppet Maker. Puppetry Performance Objectives, skills and talents from my work as a Professional Puppeteer. Observations from my varied work as a West End Theatre Stage Manager and Regional Stage Technician. I combine all these with my Fine Art skills and knowledge. Continually added to since my teenage years as an art student at Mansfield College of Art. Materials: I use canvases, paints and drawing materials. I include found objects, puppets, toys, photo's, antiquities. Jewelry and junk to create imaginative, expressive, sometimes unsettling but always engaging art. Sometimes I create artworks as Paintings, Collages, Assemblages, Films and Installations. My artwork is self expression combined with a passion to engage and entertain others. It directly draws on my own life’s experiences but is informed by those of my audiences. I also try to Educate, Inform and Inspire people and of all ages to be creative, to make art about what they know or don't. Drawing on their own lives, dreams. Centrally their world of work. I'm trying to advocate for the Arts, Puppetry and Theatre. To be relevant and to make a difference. See Marcus and Ron on YouTube! Marcus and Ron is a new development. It's about addressing to some extent the above's over thinking. As Sir Ken Robinson warns, you can educate yourself out of being creative. Risk, to be an artist you need to be able to be wrong. Puppet Ron is the side of me as an Artist that lacks inhibitions. Takes Risks. Picasso says "all children are born Artists. The challenge is to remain one". Marcus says, "Marcus and Ron is a Man with Puppet Creative Partnership Arts Practice that challenges contemporary art norms and conventions with childish thinking, childishness". "Puppet Ron is a skilled Painter, genius Colourist and expert Landscape Artist”. Says Ron..