Markos Kay is a Cyprus-born, London-based multidisciplinary artist and director, a real visual alchemist with a focus in science and generative art. His experiments often explore the unseen, mysterious and incredibly complex worlds of molecular biology and particle physics. A major theme of his work is the study of the computational paradigm in the natural and contemporary sciences, and its effects on culture and knowledge-making.
In 2014, he started an experimental art laboratory with the aim to explore the intersections of the digital and physical by combining scientific observation, computer simulations and procedural techniques with painting, textiles, ceramics and sculpture. In 2016 he became disabled due to a chronic neuro-immune disease known as ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome), which by 2019 rendered him permanently housebound and largely bed-bound. He continues to create works of art, scientific illustrations and moving images within the limits of his disability.
Markos Kay explores digital abstraction through experimentation with generative methods. His early digital work investigated the ideas of life and artificial intelligence, and it is interesting to see that this subject is now front and central in his own practice. Because of his background in art and design, he is often at the intersection of these two fields, and his practice ranges from screen-based media to print.
His work has been featured internationally in publications, museums and festivals, including the ArtScience Museum of Singapore, Ars Electronica, the Louisiana Art & Science Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Digital Art, National Geographic and VICE, among others. He has worked with various scientific, government and arts organizations including: MIT, Belfast City, European Parliament, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Simons Foundation, National Hemophilia Foundation and Playgrounds Design Festival. Alongside his artistic work, he has also worked as a lecturer of design and animation at Chelsea College of Art & Design and the University of Greenwich..
