Dalek

Icon of contemporary art and pop culture, Dalek was born James Marshall in New London, Connecticut in 1968. Born into a military family, James relocated multiple times in his youth, both domestically and abroad – moving to Japan in his late teens where he later graduated from high school. The Japanese popular subcultures of punk, street art, and cartoons would have a significant influence in his artistic development, as would the subcultures of skateboarding and graffiti writing. Dalek’s instantly recognizable and colorful character “Space Monkey” was first rendered on a wall in Connecticut in 1995 (the same year he graduated with a BFA from the Art Institute of Chicago). Marshall maintains that the Space Monkey is not a monkey at all, but a mouse – and his concept of a human being lost in a growing sea of technology and convenience. Space Monkey became Dalek’s alter ego, a medium through which he expresses his emotions, ideas, and concerns. 

Dalek has worked alongside other prolific giants such as Buff Monster and Shepard Fairey and apprenticed for Takashi Murakami from 2001-2002 – which proved to be instrumental in the development of his color mixing, discipline and studio practices.

His vibrant and graphic images have been featured in collaborations with iconic brands such as Sony and Kid Robot in the development of vinyl collectible toys and other novelties, special edition Nike and Adidas sneakers, Levi’s and Calvin Klein clothing, surfboards and swimsuits for Hurley, a custom designed Scion car, and notably - Dalek’s Space Monkey character is one of the only contemporary artist creations that has been animated for a video game series, being featured in the wildly popular Tony Hawk Underground II.

Dalek’s works have been exhibited in important museums and galleries including the Museum of Contemporary Art in Washington DC, BLK/MRKT in Los Angeles, the Rocket Gallery in Tokyo, Paris’s Collette, the Asian-American Arts Centre in NYC, the Washington Street Art Center in Massachusetts, and he has been published in the Washington Post, the New York Resident, Strength Magazine, and the New York Times. Dalek’s work is on permanent display at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art in Arizona where he was commissioned to design sprawling and vivid abstract murals for the museum’s property.