"It was easy to settle into the retreat - as I live in central London, the pace of life was much slower for me than the usual school-run routine and commuter time to the studio, it allowed me to get to work as soon as I was up, and work from early to late.

I think the immersion in nature and the stillness of it are such a beautiful gift to give an artist, it really felt to me as though it allowed life (and the movement of it) to take a little pause. I left a drawing for Bianca as a gift of my appreciation but I have really felt more that the drawings I made and were able to bring to my own studio from the retreat are more like a gift to me from the experience, from Xenia - works I otherwise would not, somehow, have been able to make. Now I've been back in the studio a couple of weeks I have already started to use the drawings, combining elements of some into more developed ideas on canvas. I really do feel very grateful for the opportunity, thank you."

Born

1980
Bath, UK

Education and Exhibitions

Marcus lives and works in London. He received his BA(Hons) in Fine Art from Coventry University in 2002, and MA in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Art and Design, London, in 2006. Upcoming exhibitions in 2023 include a presentation of paintings at MiArt, Italy with Darren Flook, as well as the major group exhibition The Inner Island at Fondation Carmignac, Porquerolles Island, France.

In 2023 he held a solo show Got Reason at Darren Flook, London. Cope’s first Institutional solo show was Silver Linings at Peer, London in 2022. Also in 2022, Cope exhibited in Seasons in the City, with ARTUNER, Turin, Italy, and at Art Cologne with Darren Flook.

Cope has worked in the Arts Council Collection as well as numerous private collections in the UK, Europe, Asia and the USA.