About
Marius Starkey is a painter based in San Francisco, working from a studio at the Hunters Point Shipyard — home to the largest concentration of working artists in the country. Born in Sterling, Kansas, he earned a BA in painting from Baker University and a Master's degree from Croydon College of Art in London before settling in San Francisco in 1989, where he has painted ever since.
His work — bold, color-driven oil paintings, watercolors, pastels, and monotypes — spans landscape, ocean, and figurative subjects, exhibited for four decades across Northern California and internationally, from Osaka and Tokyo to London, Cologne, and Paris. His paintings are held in institutional and corporate collections including San Francisco International Airport, the Mexican Museum, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, and the Spencer Museum of Art.
Starkey is also a public artist: he painted the mural at the Salesforce Transbay Terminal, created one of the sculptural hearts for SF General Hospital Foundation's Heroes and Hearts, and contributed to Paint the Void, the 2020 initiative that turned boarded-up San Francisco storefronts into public art. He has given live painting demonstrations at the de Young Museum and the Legion of Honor, and spoken about his work at UCSF.
In His Words
“For me, true transcendence of life occurs while I paint. Through the richness of color, shape, and form, a painting becomes a vehicle for something spiritual. The act of painting is almost like going to a therapist, exploring new thoughts and ideas — there is no time, no fear, and no expectations when I work, only the chance to understand my deep emotional and physical connections.”
“I threw myself into my own paintings with a fury and explored my own ways to paint that pushed me into different realms of visions. I am as excited and thrilled today about painting as I was when I first started — when I immerse myself into the next painting, I am always surprised by the results of my own work.”
“This part of my life will continue unabated until I can no longer lift a brush. I am smitten and committed to the work.”