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Marcus Nelson
Scar Tissue
11 - 18th June, PV 10th June
The Bomb Factory Art Foundation
Advanced booking essential - free tickets available via Eventbrite
PRESS RELEASE
Scar (noun) - “A mark left on the skin or within body tissue where a wound, burn, or sore has not healed completely and fibrous connective tissue has developed.”
Tissue (noun) - “Any of the distinct types of material of which animals or plants are made, consisting of specialised cells and their products.”
The Bomb Factory Art Foundation is pleased to present ‘Scar Tissue’, the debut solo exhibition by London-based artist Marcus Nelson. Nelson presents a series of large-scale paintings that explore the theme of mental ill health amongst young men, exacerbated by the pressures of trying to achieve the masculine ideal.
This subject has long been of interest to the artist, who, in 2018, co-founded 'Boys Don't Cry UK’, an art collective that raises public awareness regarding male mental health and suicide.
The paintings explore trauma as experienced by young men conforming to stereotypes of masculinity. Nelson shows us tortured bodies fighting and grappling in gyms, where painful emotions are kept just below the surface.
Having practiced boxing and mixed martial arts whilst growing up, these aggressive contact sports and the physical and mental experience of them have provided the artist with a rich vein of inspiration for his work. Photoshopped images of boxing and wrestling figures provide the basic forms for his paintings. The bruised and flayed bodies twist and writhe on the canvas, illustrating some moments of intimacy but also of extreme violence.
Notes To Editors
About the Artist
Marcus Nelson (b.1997) lives and works in London, UK. He has recently graduated from Central Saint Martins, BAFA, University of the Arts London.
Recent Group Exhibitions
- Up Close and Personal, The Curators Online Group Exhibition, curated by Dynamisk, New York, 2021.
- Human - ish , See You Next Thursday, Online Group exhibition Curated by Maria Vogel, New York 2021.
- After Hours, Bowes Paris Gallery Group Exhibition at Southside Wandsworth, curated by Cassandra Bowes, London, 2020.
- Speaking in Tongues, National Gallery group exhibition, London, 2019.
- Themselves Warehouse Group Show, Unit 8 Warehouse , London, 2019.
About The Bomb Factory
The Bomb Factory Art Foundation was founded on the premise that art, artists and creative culture offer significant value in our society. Our mission is to support artists, cultural organisations and educational institutions to engage people of all ages and backgrounds in the viewing and creation of art. The Bomb Factory enables contemporary visual arts practice to thrive through the provision of affordable studio and exhibition space as well as a supportive network of artists where peer collaboration and critique is encouraged.
Dates / Tickets
Private View: Thursday 10 June 2021
Dates: 11 - 18 June 2021
Location: The Bomb Factory, Unit 2, 9-15 Elthorne Rd, London N19 4AJ.
Booking: Advanced booking is essential, and free tickets will be made available via Eventbrite.
Contact: info@bombfactory.org.uk
ARTIST'S TALK
Is Art The Answer? Art and the Male Mental Health Crisis.
17 June
The Bomb Factory Art Foundation
Exhibiting artist Marcus Nelson in conversation with Tim Shaw, artist and founder of Hospital Rooms, Patrick Jones, Programme Manager at Islington's Cripplegate Foundation, and Hélène Selam Kleih, writer and founder of HIM + HIS, for a discussion into the role of art in the male mental health crisis.
