Leonardo Marcos

Biography

Marcos was born in Paris. His parents were Spanish political anarchist refugees who had fled the Franco regime, clandestinely crossing the border into France where they were put in a concentration camp for Spanish republicans. They subsequently left France for Argentina. When the family returned to settle in France, the photographer and film director Agnès Varda accommodated them for a while. Varda subsequently produced a short documentary based on photographs taken of the Marcos family while they were in exile. The documentary, entitled Ulysse, won an award at the " Cesars' " (French version of the Oscars). The central image on which the film is based is a photo of Leonardo Marcos' cousin Ulysse LLorca when he was a child.. Living conditions were hard for the family during exile, but the transmission of culture and knowledge, from the parents to their children, played a major role in helping the family face their problems. Every evening, Leonardo's mother would read him poems by the Spanish poet Frederico Garcia Lorca.

After finishing school at the Lycée Janson de Saillyin Paris, he pursued his studies at the Ecole du Louvre. He went on to study film, sp andlso attended classes at Jacques Lacan's Freudian School. His work caught the eye of the philosopher Gilles Deleuze who subsequently became his research director and this, during the athilosopher's period of philosophical reflection on cinema, during which he produced two works: " Image Temps " and " Image Mouvement ".

Marcos started several parallel artistic projects, orientated around punk and post-punk music. These movements offered him the possibility to explore new modes of expression in an anticonformist, raw style of art. Mirwais, musician and composer of the band Taxi Girl (who later produced albums for Madonna), took an interest in Leonardo Marcos's unconventional approach to rock and supported the concerts that he organised in theatres, cinemas and other unusual venues. One of Marcos's musicians subsequently went on to play with Taxi Girl on their UK tour and on their album Seppuku, produced by Jean-Jacques Burnel of The Stranglers. Leonardo Marcos met Philippe Constantin who, having managed an international catalogue of artists at Pathé Marconi (such as Pink Floyd, Deep Purple and Leonard Cohen), became a pioneer of rock music in France (later signing artists such as Noir Désir and Alain Baschung). Constantin liked the poetic style, not only of Marcos's texts and music, but also of his images. Marcos consequently signs with Constantin's record label Barclay and the publishers Polygram. With students from video studies course at Arts Decos School in Paris, Marcos produced several music videos based on his own music. He subsequently developed his multi-disciplinary approach by organising numerous Parisian events in the Gys Club (an old jazz club set in the cellars of the Marais district), mixing music and poetry readings with visual and stage performances.

As part of an event organised by the Maison du geste et de l'image, he runs a 'raw' art workshop at the Pierre Cardin Space in Paris. Here he created a " Space " area. He became friends with the producer, film director and TV presenter Freddy Hausser. They joined forces to work on the televised news of La Cinq along with the journalist and news presenter Guillaume Durand. The discovery of journalistic television inspires Marcos to explore new creative areas in the audiovisual field, especially in the media and television programmes. He produces and film directs for Eye TV, an international television programme about trends. His interest in fashion also brings him to direct international corporate films, including a very moving film on the last fashion show of the late Hubert de Givenchy. In France he films for the innovative and experimental news programme Brut on ARTE.

At the beginning of the 21st century, Marcos organized a special artistic event at the Nouveau Casino, Paris, in collaboration with the artist Guy Peellaert (responsible for the album covers of David Bowie's " Diamond Dogs ", the Rolling Stones " It's Only Rock 'n Roll " and the coffee table book " Rock Dreams "). The event is based around the Pop Art comic strip character, Pravda. For Leonardo Marcos, this is the departure point of a new pluridisciplinary art using the latest digital technology. He subsequently became Artistic Director for numerous Parisian events, mixing video, cinema, photography and electronic music. At the "Rendez-vous Toyota " showroom on the Champs Elysées, he created " Le O " space, where special guests include Ivan Smagghe, Marc Collin, and DJ Hell. He organised numerous artistic events and exhibitions with Blanca Li, Christian Caujolle of the Vu gallery and photographer Serge Leblon.

Musée national de la Marine in Paris invited him to contribute images as part of an exhibition of baroque figureheads. The private viewing takes place on the evening of the second " Nuit Blanche " in Paris. In this vast museum at the Trocadero, he invites DJs to mix the sound. A first of its kind in this venue. Marcos also creates an event dedicated to the Mona Lisa at the Louvre. Using an introductory parcours, the painting is unveiled in fragments, thus dramatising the enigmatic character of the work.

During this same period, he organises exhibitions at the "Amicorum St Honoré gallery" which feature the artist's poems through photography, video, installations, performances etc.

He decided to position poetry, not only in books, but in other media and forms of expression, creating the " night gallery " concept for the RX gallery in Paris. Here his poems, images and sound can be experienced and discovered through outdoor night-time projections. In the same vein, as part of "The Spring of Poets" project (at the Centre of Catalonian Studies of the Sorbonne), the artist portrays his poems through outdoor photographic projections, accompanied by poetry readings.

He created a " Timeless dialogue " between his late cousin, Maria Ibars, and himself, mixing her poems with his own. He also produces artistic events for the " Générale des Arts ". Leonardo Marcos is invited by the Ministry of Culture of Barcelona to participate in a major " Nuit Blanche " event, hosted at "the Catalonia Centre" in Paris. This time he stages French and Catalan texts of Paul Eluard and Dali. He refers to their common muse, Gala Dali. Young girls, in Vivienne Westwood outfits, welcome guests and distribute " billet-doux " featuring verses from Eluard and Leonardo Marcos. "Words in movement " are projected inside the venue and thus dress the entire internal space.

He went on to develop this concept in other venues, addressing the idea that, during childhood, when she plays with dolls, a woman projects herself, by creating her double. " Feminine duality " in a sensual form inspires for him the " echo of thought " concept, a term that he adopts from psychiatry. The idea of the split personality of the feminine side inspires him to stage the poems of St Jean de La Croix at "the Collège des Bernardins" in Paris. In his texts, this mystical poet talks of himself in the feminine. Leonardo Marcos writes a two-hour long poem entitled " Solo Cadiz " which he stages at "the Theatre du Temps" in Paris. He addresses the double side of the " feminine " and the idea of the demultiplication of personalities and its link with childhood and the desire for power. Femininity resists oppression: the play takes place during the Franco regime in Spain.

Marcos met Catherine Robbe-Grillet, and was greatly inspired by her book "L'Image". She agrees to be photographed by him, something she always previously refused other photographers. The photographs were published in a book, along with a series of interviews and discussions between the two addressing the subject of the image. They both refer to the link between their private lives, artistic work, and their relationship with the image and voyeurism. The book is entitled "Images publiques Images privés ". It is prefaced by Michka Assayas, a close friend of Leonardo Marcos. An exhibition is held at the Pierre Passebon's Galerie du Passage. where David Lynch, Ionesco, Karl Lagerfeld and Louboutin have held exhibitions. As part of his exhibition, Marcos photographed actress and singer Arielle Dombasle and actress Farida Khelfa. With this project, using video installations, he pays tribute to Alain Robbe-Grillet, (ambassador of the French new novel and late husband to Catherine Robbe-Grillet) and his last film " C'est Gradiva qui vous appelle ".

Book Publication

2011

Exhibitions and Artistiques performances

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

" Timeless Dialogues " Poetry readings of Maria Ibars with outdoor image projections

Poetry recitals with projections of images and words.

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002