 I'm thrilled that my exhibition "Islands in the Stream" is opening this week at Sue Greenwood Fine Art in Laguna Beach, CA.
My work comes from thoughts about people and places; about permanence and impermanence; about notions of home and belonging. These thoughts are depicted in images that combine simple representations, layered abstractions, and plain-spoken materials. I’m always fascinated by people’s relationship with the land and time - how the landscape becomes a record of people’s movements and stories. Especially the way that the things we regard as solid and permanent are actually temporary, in flux, and part of a continuum much larger than ourselves. Much of my recent work ponders life's transitions, and features images of boats, houses, and travelers, reflecting on life’s journeys, arrivals, and moorings. The show features fifteen paintings, mostly made in the last two years, and the gallery is currently open for socially responsible viewing. Also showing concurrently - work by the always fascinating Arizona artist John Randall Nelson.
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 I'm delighted and honored to have my painting, A New Perspective, on show at the 2021 Crocker Kingsley exhibition.
The Crocker-Kingsley Exhibition was first juried in 1940, and over the past 80 years, this prestigious show has included many premier names in American and California art, including Robert Arneson, Elmer Bischoff, David Gilhooly, Gregory Kondos, Mel Ramos, Ruth Rippon, and Wayne Thiebaud. In the past, this competition has featured solely California artists. However, starting this year the exhibition was open to submissions from all artists nationally. Works selected by this year’s juror, Carrie Lederer, is on display in all four galleries at Blue Line Arts in Roseville, CA. Exhibition dates: January 8th to February 20th. Virtual reception: Saturday, January 16th at 3pm. Register for the virtual reception and vote for People's Choice at Blue Line Arts. I'm excited to announce that my work is included in Wild Tangents, a timely bi-coastal exhibition curated by Caetlynn Booth (New York) and Ann Trinca (San Francisco). View the show at anntrinca.com  The year 2020 has pushed many people apart and tested our resolve. But it also stretched our imaginations and made us dig deeper. For artists it meant fewer opportunities to share their work, but perhaps more time in the studio to work through ideas or simply follow a loose thread. In a sense, quarantine stopped time – but it couldn’t keep our creative minds from racing.
Wild Tangents is a bi-coastal exhibition curated by Caetlynn Booth (New York) and Ann Trinca (San Francisco) that looks at recent work from artists who have tuned into inspiration from unexpected places. A “wild tangent” can be a mere distraction, or a journey from which you never return. The artists in this exhibition have reached into a swirling hive of current events and wrestled with unprecedented concepts. The exhibition will appear online on the curators’ websites. In addition, the East Coast show will be on view by appointment at the gallery at Reservoir Studios (659 Woodward Av, Ridgewood, NY). Hi Friends I hope you're faring well. It seems a little redundant to comment on the unprecedented times we find ourselves in right now, but I do sincerely hope you are all faring well.  News This new stripped down and simplified life has led to some very productive spells in the studio, and you can see the resulting paintings here. Having previously had several gallery shows cancelled, I can share some more positive exhibition news below. It seems like this is a time for being patient, and working as deeply as possible with the things you have available, and I'm grateful to be in a position to do that.
Stay safe and well friends, and thanks as always for your interest and support,
Martin Hi Friends I hope you're all healthy and safe in this challenging time, and that you're keeping a good perspective on our shared situation. As we are all doing, I am making some changes to my activities and plans, so I want to tell you about them. A New Page The vast majority of art sales I make are through the much appreciated galleries and art-consultants that I work with - I rarely sell pieces directly and usually I don't actively promote doing so. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused an abrupt halt to most gallery activity, exhibitions have been cancelled or postponed, and other projects are on hold. For that reason I have launched the purchase page you see in the menu bar above - it's not a "shop", but an invitation to contact me if you are interested in purchasing work. Hopefully you already know that my work ranges from inexpensive small prints to giant commissions! All indications suggest that what was already a tough time for galleries and artists (my one solo show of last year was cancelled when the gallery lost their lease to gentrification) is about to get tougher, so I urge you, if you're able, to support any artist or you follow or check in with a gallery you're a fan of.  Hunkering in the studio Exhibitions
The Upside This is a great opportunity to hunker down in my studio and be productive! I've been painting a lot this year already and expect to do a lot more the next few months. I'll update the website with new pieces as they emerge, and you can always keep an eye on what I'm up to via Instagram or my less-used Facebook. Thanks as always for your ongoing interest and support - its always appreciated! Stay safe and well, Martin Hello Friends – I hope your 2020 has started well. I have some news of shows coming up this year. Left Coast Juried Annual Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, CA Reception April 10th, 7-9pm The painting below will be included in this annual group show at Sanchez Art Center in Pacifica. This year’s show was juried by Carin Adams, Curator of Art at Oakland Museum of California, and will show 50 artworks selected from 980 entries.  Ian’s Place, 2018, 48 x 96, is based on a photograph plus the recollected image of an old friend’s small mid-century house located where the forest meets the beach on a secluded stretch of New Zealand coast.
Elder Gallery of Contemporary Art Charlotte, NC Opening reception May 14th I’m excited to be starting work with this gallery which mixes an established heritage with a great vision for it’s future work. In this four-artist group show that contemplates concepts of home, I'll be contributing some recent paintings and a large installation that I will build on-site in the gallery in May. www.eldergalleryclt.com Sue Greenwood Fine Art Laguna Beach, CA August/September SGFA is another gallery that I’ll be working with for the first time. This will be a two person show alongside an artist who’s work I’ve admired for years. I’m really looking forward to announcing details closer to the time! www.suegreenwoodfineart.com As always, I appreciate your continued interest and support, Martin I am thrilled and immensely grateful to be the recipient of the 2018 Aninstantia Foundation Visual Arts Grant. From the Foundation's website: Aninstantia Foundation believes there is a need for art in the world of today. The intention of Aninstantia Foundation is to support individual artists who embody the creative force that, through art, touches an expansive range of senses, feelings, and thoughts—art that augments dimensions of our lives. Artists talking about the relationship between art and art forms provide insights into the making of art that enhances the richness of human experience. I intend to use the grant to support my transition to my new studio, my ongoing studio work, and to further my explorations in printmaking.  
Each separate board was numbered and indexed so that they could be installed in the lobby of the new building. The piece is approximately 16.5 x 10.5 ft, and its location provided some interesting challenges. As you can see, the lobby is a very tall but quite shallow space and it can be hard to take in the whole of the piece from such a close distance, however there are multiple viewpoints from the adjacent stairs and landings, and crucially the piece is visible through the glass windows as you approach the building. So my intention is that you see the larger graphic elements and general composition from outside, then once inside you see the material and textural elements. Here are some installation shots. I am hugely appreciative of all the people who helped make this happen, especially all the people of Avenidas, Elise DeMarzo and Nadya Chuprina of Palo Alto's Public Art Program, architect Susi Stadler, Vance Brown Construction, and my pal Lee Tollefsrud who once again helped me install the piece.  A quick update on what's happening in the studio. I have some new paintings underway, but am mostly working on a commissioned wall piece for the lobby of Avenidas Senior Center in Palo Alto. For many years Avenidas have been located in an older Mission style building in downtown Palo Alto, and they're currently remodeling the old building and grafting a large new building onto it. The wall piece I'm making uses timbers reclaimed from the old building which have designs carved, painted, and added in relief. The design is rooted in an abstract digital painting I made a few years ago which seemed to suggest themes of growth and connection. I'm working on the piece is sections in my temporary space at Jackknife Studios in Oakland with woodwork being done at the woodshop at Trainhole Studios in Berkeley. The piece will be hung on a two story wall in the main entry lobby and is approximately 16 x 11ft so pushing the limits of my modest current space! Installation will happen in January so stay tuned ... From their website, "Founded in 1974, Kala Art Institute provides exceptional facilities to professional artists working in and across all forms of printmaking, digital media, film, video, and sound, book arts, photography, and performance". I recently took a three day series of monoprint classes with Jen Cole at Kala's print studios in Berkeley and you can see some of the resulting 14 x 14 prints below. When I was in college I did a little printmaking but was always put off by the very step-by-step, technical nature of the processes which didn't really gel with my more intuitive approach to developing images. Since then I've dabbled with some linocuts, collagraphs, and monoprints, all just approached with a minimal degree of real technical knowledge , and I realized that printmaking can be very spontaneous and intuitive after all. I thought it was time I took some more serious lessons and Jen's approach which combined technical input with encouragement to experiment was perfect. I'd like to pick up the printmaking thread again next year at some point. |
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