Marcel Dirkes is a Paris-based multidisciplinary artist whose semi-figurative works are characterized by rhythmic vertical lines. His work includes paintings carved from acrylic, sculptures constructed from electronic paper displays, and installations using thermochromatic pigments.
Dirkes explores how identities are shaped by societal structures and often unseen expectations to which we conform. The repetition of office building architecture, or the synchronized choreography of city sidewalks, where people move to the cadence of an unspoken routine. The world he creates invites the viewer to consider the boundary between structure and freedom: when do we break free from expectations?
Travel is integral to his process: he deliberately journeys to cities such as New York, Hong Kong, London, and Tokyo to capture source material through photography. For his electronic paper crowns, he traveled throughout Europe to gather real-world data from treasuries to construct his versions of a digital empire crown.
Born in the Netherlands in 1982, Dirkes initially trained in medicine at Leiden University and worked in the technology sector before dedicating himself fully to art. Now based in Paris, his work is informed by these earlier experiences, creating a unique perspective on the structures of contemporary life.