Dalek, one of the most exciting artists from the burgeoning Brooklyn art scene, has published a collection of his most ambitious works to date. This book arrives as a celebration of his exhibit with Mike Giant, Coup d'Etat, at the Magda Danysz Gallery in Paris. The exhibition and the book explores the evolution of this extraordinary artist through years of immersion in the American art scene, from the streets to the galleries. His new body of work reveals, in a profusion and hyper-abundance of colour alongside planes of space, that the familiar lines and iconic Space Monkey references that defined his earlier work are only a starting point for this new series. Each of Dalek's paintings is an innovation that has led him to the vibrant iconography that we see today, as he seamlessly fuses street art, cartoons, Japanese pop, and the energy of the urban punk scene. Having been Takashi Murakami's assistant in 2001, Dalek has turned to the subcultures of graffiti, skateboarding and punk rock to help form his identity.
About the Author: Dalek, aka James Marshall, is one of the most exciting artists from the burgeoning Brooklyn art scene. Marshall was born in 1968 in New London, Connecticut to a military family. His childhood was punctuated by drastic moves every couple years up and down the East Coast, and eventually ended his high school years in Japan. He turned to the subcultures of punk rock, skateboarding and graffiti for inclusion and identity. He earned his bachelor's degree in anthropology and sociology from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1992, and received his BFA from the School of the Art Institute in Chicago in 1995. His Space Monkey character was born out of graffiti, which he discovered in 1994 in the rail yards of California and later in Chicago. Marshall worked under the name Dalek to merge street art with influences from animation, Japanese pop, and the energy of the urban punk scene. In 2001, he reached a major turning point in his studio practice while working as an assistant/apprentice to the world-renowned artist Takashi Murakami. Marshall's work has been shown in galleries and museums across North America, Europe and Japan. He first made his mark in the art world with his iconic Space Monkey character, which looks like a catatonic, twisted mouse. "The Space Monkey is my concept of a human being," he says. "It's a tool for relaying and exploring ideas." But his 2007 show at Jonathan LeVine Gallery was a drastic departure from this: the paintings were complex and layered; the Dalek moniker was replaced by the artist's real name; and the Space Monkeys were either missing altogether or fragmented. "[The show] was really cathartic to me, and I think it really helped open a lot of things for me visually," he says. "By not having that iconic centerpiece to build a painting around, all the elements started springing up and happening a little more naturally, and things started growing in a different way, which was liberating." His work has continued to be exhibited in London's Apart Gallery, in New York, and in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Washington.