Urban prankster Mark Jenkins art show in Hollywood

By David Pescovitz at 9:58 am Monday, Jan 18

One of my favorite prankster artists, Mark Jenkins, has a show of new work opening Thursday, January 21, at Carmichael Gallery in Hollywood, California. Regular BB readers will be familiar with Jenkins's terrific street installations involving cellophane tape babies, fake "living statues," and "sleeping" mannnequins. I think Mark's creativity, sense of humor, and quest for fun in his work is perhaps unparalleled in today's contemporary art scene. From Carmichael Gallery:

Works range from those in which the human is recast as a specialized object, such as Spokes, which features a tape cast sculpture of a girl fashioned to function as a bike, to those in which human posture is contorted to resemble that of another animal. Each piece is "an exploration of evolution within the realm of the absurd," says Jenkins...

Jenkins' process involves dry-casting everything from fire hydrants and toy ducks to baby dolls and people, often himself or his assistants, with box sealing tape, the latter often dressed to appear scarily life- like. When placed outside or slipped indoors, announced or otherwise, these sculptures have the ability to both camouflage into their surroundings and elicit spectacular amounts of attention from viewers.

Jenkins' works have been observed lounging atop billboards, slumped over on cafeteria tables, panhandling in the streets, emanating from street poles, drowning in bodies of water, clinging to statues, overturning street signs and more in locations such as Belgrade, Vienna, Washington D.C., London, Barcelona, New York, Moscow and Seoul.

Mark Jenkins