Biography

Born in 1966, Marcus Suarez was raised in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, NY. He showed an interest in art from a very early age, as his father  would often share with him the custom jewelry he would design for Cartier and Tiffany & Co. He attended, the Mark Twain school for the Gifted and Talented and then went to the High School for Art & Design in Manhattan, and received a full scholarship to attend the NY Academy of Art. 

In the early 80’s NYC was the mecca for graffiti, and Marcus for the next 10 years would be known as “ENSE” leaving his mark, on many old subway trains & handball courts. During this time he was also diagnosed with diabetes which would contribute to some health problems later in life.

 In 1990, after creating a painting in a NYC night club, “Spodee O Dee”, he met the CEO of “Absolut” Vodka who envied his work and commissioned him to create an ad campaign for their bottle. This was his first paying gig. 

2 years later, Marcus met David LaChapelle, celebrated American photographer, and video Artist, and Marcus would work side by side with him on many projects for the next 30 years.

In 2012, Marcus started suffering from strokes, and in 2013 after having his 8th stroke was paralyzed on his right side of his body and lost all his speech. It would be 3 years before he was able to live his life independently and start his painting career over again. 5 years after his last stroke, due to complications from Diabetes, Marcus needed a kidney transplant. Since then Marcus has been painting every day, and selling his art privately as he continues to grow.

  • Ever since Marcus was a young boy, the numbers “333” has always follwed him. Weather it was the time he woke up, a mobile phone number, or bus he was taking, these numbers would appear ona a lmost daily basis. During some hard times and struggles in his life, when praying to god he believes that when he sees the numbers 333, god is looking over him.

  • In the early 80’s Marcus was finding himself and needed a tag name. His nickname was “shorty” in his circle of friends because they were all taller then him, and he hated it. His friend was looking through a book and pointed to the word “difference” and his friend said, why don’t you use “ENCE” which is the ending of the word “difference”, which later changed to “ENSE”