ALEX MARKWITH
Alex Markwith is a Helsinki-based visual artist whose practice merges abstract painting, collage and street art influences. Recent works incorporate digital techniques, addressing themes of power,mortality and transformation. Recurring images of skulls address the classical concept of “mementomori”, while chessboards morph into grid-like matrices where pieces dissolve and decay.
Previously based in New York City, Markwith’s work has been included in over sixty exhibitions worldwide including Paris, Berlin, Helsinki, New York, Los Angeles and Dubai. Recent projects include participation in NordArt 2023, Europe’s largest juried exhibition of contemporary art held annually in Büdelsdorf, Germany and a 2024 solo exhibition at Espoo Cultural Center.
Markwith holds a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design (2011) and completed the school’s European Honors Program in Rome, Italy. He is a member of Taidemaalariliitto, Helsinki Artists’ Association and Globe Art Point and has received grants from the City of Helsinki and the ArtsPromotion Center of Finland (Taike). His work is held in the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
ATOM TOYS COLLABRATION
LIBERTY LAMENTING THE WORLD
This collaborative sculpture reimagines the character M from Rocket Rascals as a faceless, decayed soldier burdened with the weight of the world within its chest. Crowned with fractured spikes that echo the Statue of Liberty, the figure embodiesboth the longing for home and the erosion of ideals once tied to freedom and democracy. Chains reference bondage and forgotten promises of liberation, while the missing torch and weary posture suggest defeat and abandonment. Simultaneously fragile and resilient, the work questions where notions of home, belonging, and human responsibility toward Earth can be found in a fractured, post- apocalyptic present.