Marcus Lyon

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Marcus Lyon
Born22 August 1965
Exeter, UK.
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s)Artist and Photographer
Known forA Human Atlas
Websitemarcuslyon.com

Marcus Lyon (born 22 August 1965) is a London-based artist and photographer known for his portraiture and landscape work. Lyon is known for his research based self-published art books and exhibitions from the Human Atlas series.[1] His works and publications are held in both private and international collections, including National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution,[2] the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Art Institute of Chicago, The Menil Collection and the Arts Council of Great Britain.[3]

Life and work[edit]

Lyon was born in Exeter, UK. His father was an industrialist and his mother a writer. He received his first camera at the age of 13 as a gift. He was raised in rural England in Amberley, West Sussex. His early years were much influenced by time spent observing the artistic community built by Alan Caiger-Smith at the Aldermaston Pottery.

After studying Political Science at Leeds University founded the Glassworks Studio as an atelier and production house for his commissioned and personal work. As a portrait artist, Lyon has photographed a diverse range of public figures from Queen Elizabeth II, four British Prime Ministers, actor Bill Nighy[4] and film director Fernando Meirelles.[5]

His early work was much influenced by commissioned work for Amnesty International in Guatemala and subsequent projects with Non-Profits working with street children across South America, Africa and Asia.

His focus on social impact photography led to leadership roles at the International Children's Trust and the Consortium for Street Children where he led turn-around work to refocus the organisations. He has also served as a board director of the Somerset House Trust [6] and Leader's Quest.[7]

After the millennium he turned his attention to his artwork and produced bodies of work on globalisation and science, such as: the BRIC's, Exodus,[8] Timeout[9] and Intersection,[10] Optogenome and Fuel series.

In 2014 Lyon he founded the Human Atlas initiative:[11] a body of work bringing science and art together through images, sound and DNA. In this work his studio creates books and exhibitions that study nominated groups of people in specified geographies through the lens of portraits, app-based image-activated soundscapes and ancestral DNA maps. To date, the team has created projects on Brazil,[12] Germany,[13] and Detroit[14] - with two further atlases currently in production.

João de Souza Lopes Filho – Somos Brasil (2018)

Publications[edit]

  • Lyon, Marcus (2000). Tuna : London, UK: LYON.[15]
  • Lyon, Marcus (2006). Flowers  : London, UK: LYON.[16]
  • Lyon, Marcus (2016). Somos Brasil – A Human Atlas of a Nation: São Paulo, Brazil: Editora Madalena & ImageMagica. ISBN 978-85-61921-06-4[17][18] Lyon, Marcus (2018). WE: deutschland – A Human Atlas  : London, UK: LYON. ISBN 978-1-5272-2790-3
  • Lyon, Marcus (2018). WE:deutschland – A Human Atlas:[19] London, UK: LYON. ISBN 978-1-5272-2790-3
  • Lyon, Marcus (2020). i.Detroit – A Human Atlas of an American City:[20] London, UK: LYON. ISBN 978-1-9163668-0-0

Exhibitions[edit]

Somos Brasil Exhibition in São Paulo, Brazil, 2017
Somos Brasil Exhibition in Pingyao, China, 2017
  • 2017 – Somos Brasil: CBB, São Paulo, Brazil[21]
  • 2017 – Somos Brasil: Pingyao, China[22]
  • 2018 – Somos Brasil, Royal Botanical Gardens: Sydney, Australia[23]
  • 2019 – Embassy of Brazil: London, United Kingdom[24]

Awards[edit]

  • 2001 – D&AD Graphite Pencil / Editorial & Books / Book Covers for ‘Tuna’ book[25]
  • 2001 – D&AD Wood Pencil / Graphic Design / Self-Promotional Items for ‘Tuna’ book[26]
  • 2017 – D&AD Yellow Pencil / Book Design / Culture, Art & Design Books Visualisation for ‘Somos Brasil’ book[27]
  • 2017 – D&AD Graphite Pencil / Graphic Design / Integrated Graphics for ‘Somos Brasil’ book[28]
  • 2017 – D&AD Graphite Pencil / Graphic Design / Data Visualisation for ‘Somos Brasil’ book[29]
  • 2019 – British Book Awards – Best Self-published Book for ‘WE: deutschland’ book[30]
  • 2021 – Design Week Awards – Editorial Design / Social Design for ‘i.Detroit’ book[31]
  • 2021 – D&AD Wood Pencil / Graphic Design / Integrated for ‘i.Detroit’ book[32]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Home". Human Atlas. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  2. ^ "Collections: Annual Report 2016". National Air and Space Museum. Major acquisitions in FY 2016 included ... a series of photographs by the photographic artist Marcus Lyon.
  3. ^ "Lyon, Marcus | Arts Council Collection". artscouncilcollection.org.uk. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  4. ^ Paradise, Production. "London: Glassworks - Portraiture & Celebrity Photography Spotlight Oct 2010 magazine - Production Paradise". www.productionparadise.com. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  5. ^ blogdojuanesteves (8 March 2017). "SOMOS BRASIL >MARCUS LYON". Tumblr. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  6. ^ "Our Team". Somerset House. 1 September 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  7. ^ "Marcus Lyon". Leaders' Quest. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  8. ^ Coppelman, Alyssa. "Strange Visions of the Hyper-Congested Megacities of the Future". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  9. ^ "What Could Unchecked Global Development Look Like? Apocalyptic". Bloomberg.com. 15 April 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  10. ^ ArtPremium (17 April 2017). "Marcus Lyon : An idea leader". ArtPremium. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  11. ^ "Meet the extraordinary change makers from Detroit". The Independent. 5 November 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  12. ^ "Projeto com retratos e DNA de 104 brasileiros tenta desvendar 'força' de identidade nacional". BBC News Brasil (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  13. ^ WE: deutschland by Marcus Lyon, retrieved 29 November 2022
  14. ^ Hinds, Julie. "Telling the story of Detroit through 100 stunning portraits of people making a difference". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  15. ^ "Tuna | WorldCat.org". www.worldcat.org. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  16. ^ "Oops, something went wrong | WorldCat.org". www.worldcat.org. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  17. ^ "Somos Brasil | WorldCat.org". www.worldcat.org. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  18. ^ Lyon, Marcus. "Unravelling Brazil's diverse DNA". the Guardian. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  19. ^ "We: Deutschland | Studio Sutherland". studio-sutherland.co.uk. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  20. ^ Lee, Lauren (15 November 2020). "British artist creates a 'human atlas' of Detroit to tell 100 stories of the city's unsung heroes". CNN. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  21. ^ "Somos Brasil – Exposições". Guia Folha (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  22. ^ "Festival Internacional de Fotografia de Pingyao destaca obra "Somos Brasil"_portuguese.xinhuanet.com". portuguese.xinhuanet.com. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  23. ^ "Somos Brasil". Head On Photo Festival. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  24. ^ https://spectrumphoto.co.uk/somos-brasil-by-marcus-lyon Somos Brasil by Marcus Lyon. Accessed 10 June 2021
  25. ^ "Tuna Book | The Partners | Marcus Lyon | D&AD Awards 2001 Pencil Winner | Book Covers | D&AD". www.dandad.org. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  26. ^ "Tuna Book | The Partners | Marcus Lyon | D&AD Awards 2001 Pencil Winner | Self Promotional Items | D&AD". www.dandad.org. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  27. ^ "Somos Brasil | Lyon | Lyon | D&AD Awards 2017 Pencil Winner | Culture, Art & Design Books | D&AD". www.dandad.org. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  28. ^ "Somos Brasil | Lyon | Lyon | D&AD Awards 2017 Pencil Winner | Integrated Graphics | D&AD". www.dandad.org. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  29. ^ "Somos Brasil | Lyon | Lyon | D&AD Awards 2017 Pencil Winner | Data Visualisation | D&AD". www.dandad.org. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  30. ^ British Book Awards. Accessed 15 June 2021
  31. ^ Design Week Awards Accessed 24 June 2021
  32. ^ "Social design". Design Week. 24 January 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2023.