Marc Standing

London, UK

Born in Zimbabwe and now based in London, Standing's iconic and haunting paintings have developed along a complex path of progression. Driven by an innate compulsion to paint, Standing explores tension felt by a personal search for identity, embodied by complexities felt by a mass consciousness - one which has been left with toxic traces of colonialism.

For this is what packs such a punch in Standing's work - the other - worldly layering of textures and imagery which evoke a surreal clarity in the viewer. Standing's recent eerie yet peaceful paintings use a palette and compositional platform, mixed with sinister imagery, to explore the tensions felt between light and dark; comfort and discomfort; a sense of belonging and a sense of void.

His works have been shown extensively throughout Australia and have also been included in prominent Australian art prizes, as well as a commission work for The Groucho Club in London, a nominee for the Sovereign Asian Art Prize, and acquired by Artbank in Australia. His work has also been exhibited in New York, London, Holland, Hong Kong, South Africa and Zimbabwe.


The Universe in Ecstatic Motion
Marc Standing

The Secret Sky
Marc Standing

The Moving River
Marc Standing

Through the Wormhole
Marc Standing

Love with Their Eyes
Marc Standing

Going to the Mountain
Marc Standing

The Idol of Yourself
Marc Standing

The Taste of Scaredness
Marc Standing

Garden of the World
Marc Standing

Genesis
Marc Standing

Flourish
Marc Standing

Synthesis
Marc Standing

Entanglements
Marc Standing

The Floating Sea
Marc Standing

Sprout
Marc Standing

Flowerings
Marc Standing

Eternal Paradise
Marc Standing

The Island
Marc Standing

The Deep
Marc Standing

Immersion
Marc Standing

The Phosphorescence
Marc Standing

Bliss
Marc Standing

Utopia
Marc Standing

Lost Horizons
Marc Standing

Marineology
Marc Standing

Cosmology
Marc Standing

Chasms
Marc Standing

Homegrown Love
Marc Standing

Inception
Marc Standing

The Reptilians
Marc Standing

Island Sea
Marc Standing

Pulsating Magic
Marc Standing

Ambushed Haven
Marc Standing
BORN

1976 in Harare, Zimbabwe

EDUCATION

1999
BFA Honors Degree, University of Cape Town, South Africa

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2023
Land's End, Montague Contemporary, New York

2021
The Whispering Tongues, Grove Square Galleries, London

2019
Going To The Mountain, Worldly Wicked & Wise Gallery, London, UK
The Oracles, One River School, Portland, Oregan
START Fair, ART LABOR Gallery, London, UK
Lamina, Raro, London

2018
Sprigg Gallery, London

2016
The Oracles, Anna Pappas Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
The Eternal Return, The Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong

2015
The Shadow Men, King Street Gallery, Sydney, Australia

2014
Mystic Bodies, The Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong

2013
Lost Wonders, Anna Pappas Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
The Phosphorecence, King Street Gallery, Sydney, Australia
The Duchess Of Avon, Trink Tank Tank, Melbourne, Australia

2011
Waking Me Forever, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney, Australia

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2023
African Abstraction, Montague Contemporary, New York

2022
African Abstraction, Montague Contemporary, New York

2021
Reclaiming Magic, Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy
Arcadia, Grove Square Galleries, London
Circle (Pollen Collective), 44 Russel St, London

2020
The Colour of Abstraction : New Ways of Seeing. Grove Square Galleries, London

2019
4²+1, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
Nou Wave, London, UK
We Must Cultivate Our Garden, The Sixteen Trust, London

2018
Growth, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
Play, Re Centre, London, UK
Paint the Web Pink, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai

2017
New Space Grand Opening Exhibition, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
New Space Soft Opening Exhibition, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai
FLUX, Chelsea College of Arts, London, UK
10 Years of Love, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai, China

2016
Fireflowers, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai, China
Lost Opportunities, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai, China
Teleportation, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai, China

2015
Art Index Fair, Art Fitch Alliance, Mumbai, India
New York Now! 015, Factory Arts Project, New York
Glennfidich Art Bar, Sydney Contemporary, Sydney, Australia

2014
Platform for Emerging Artists, Leyden Gallery, London, UK
Dreaming in Color, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai, China
Justice Center Human Rights Art Prize, Sundaram Gallery, Hong Kong
Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize, Finalist, South Australian Museum, Adelaide, Australia
Art Athina, Anna Pappas Gallery, Athens, Greece
Redlands Konica Minolta Art Prize, Finalist, NAS, Sydney, Australia
Art Athina, Anna Pappas Gallery, Athens, Greece

2013
Wonder Works, The Space, Art HK 2013, Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong
Sovereign Asian Art Prize Exhibition, Finalist, Rotunda Exchange Square, Hong Kong / Espace Louis Vuitton, Singapore
Project 13: Jamais Vu, Anna Pappas Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
Looking Forward, King Street Gallery, Sydney, Australia
Clayton UTZ Art Award, Finalist, Brisbane, Australia

ARTIST RESIDENCY

2019-2017
Artist in residence, Amilla Fushi, Maldives.

2017
Elmo’s House, The Philippines
ART LABOR Gallery residency, Shanghai, China

2015
Artist in residence, One & Only, Maldives
Puebla, Mexico

IMPORTANT COLLECTIONS

The Groucho Club, London, UK
Cathay Pacific Lounge, Hong Kong
Artbank, Australia
Private collections worldwide