We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Marcos Lutyens. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Marcos below.

Marcos, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

The Rose River Memorial is the most impactful project that I have worked on recently. The project has involved making a felt rose in the community. One for each person that has died from Covid. It has been a long and arduous project but has brought healing to thousands of people throughout the US. The combination of art and healing is truly gratifying as an artist, and this project has enabled me to reach into communities that are beyond the sometimes constrained boundaries of the art world.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I grew up in a family immersed in art and culture so it felt natural to me to create. I see being an artist as a vocation rather than a profession, as it goes beyond the work-a-day process and into the heart and soul of interactions through time. I am self-taught as I have been interested in discovering my own creative path, rather than learning a secondhand one taught in an art school. Each day is a learning process.

I spent time in my formative years in the desert and forests discovering for myself what I would say is the ‘origin’ in originality.

I became interested in the art of consciousness through explorations with shamans, neuroscientists, and neurodivergent people. I have had the good fortune to show my work in some major institutions across the globe including the Guggenheim NY, the Centre Pompidou, the Royal Academy, the National Museum of China, and other leading cultural institutions.

I am continually exploring new avenues related to consciousness. Recently I have been working on the subject of memorialization related to Covid that I mentioned above. Another large-scale project that I have been working on relates to the decommissioning of oil rigs off the coast of California. I am focused on how artists can create change in the world around them. Some people describe this artist activism.

Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

I have been producing a line of NFTs inspired by and supporting the Covid-centered Rose River Memorial. I think they are a great way of finding new and diverse support for artist-driven projects. There has also been a lot of hype around the subject matter of NFTs and a lot of speculation which has not necessarily paid off for collectors. That is why I have been interested in reframing NFTs as a medium of social exchange, and fundraising for projects that could benefit the community. The rose NFTs that I have developed are derived from analog watercolors that I made during the Covid period. For the NFTs, I divided the watercolors into layers and reassembled them into many variations. I partnered with Toklas.xyz who have been instrumental in this process.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I like the book Mount Analog by Surrealist writer René Dumal. It points to a different way of understanding reality and seeing how life could be envisioned as a quest. I also like the Chilean-French avant-garde filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky as he has a way of bringing the imaginary realms of existence to the fore. He also wrote a book called ‘Psychomagic’ which describes behavioral rituals that he has prescribed in the treatment of psychological disorders of his patients.

Currently, I am reading ‘Allegories of the Anthropocene’ by Elizabeth M. DeLoughrey, which reconsiders our relationship to the world around us as it relates to the Pacific Ocean and the Caribean.

I like to integrate what I learn from films and books into my artmaking process.

Contact Info:

• Website: lutyens.com
• Instagram: marcoslutyens
• Facebook: marcoslutyens
• Linkedin: marcos lutyens
• Twitter: marcoslutyens
• Youtube: marcos lutyens

Image Credits
Kevin Chang, Pro PhotoSTL, Marcos Lutyens