EDDIE MARTINEZ: ISLAND I AT TIMOTHY TAYLOR GALLERY
October 13, 2014 – November 8, 2014
EDDIE MARTINEZ:
ISLAND I AT TIMOTHY TAYLOR GALLERY
October 13, 2014 –
November 8, 2014
Timothy Taylor
Gallery is very pleased to announce an exhibition of new work by New York-based
artist Eddie Martinez. Coinciding with London’s annual Frieze Week, this will
be the artist’s first exhibition at the gallery.
Martinez has gained
international recognition for his extraordinary use of line and manipulation of
colour, which he applies aggressively and in vividly contrasting combinations
to his paintings and sculptures. His style draws from a deep understanding of
painting’s histories, filtered through personal experience, popular culture and
sport. Described as “indomitable” by Interview Magazine, Martinez has recently
attracted attention for his “exceptional gifts as a painter and draftsman,
which he exuberantly combines.” (Roberta Smith, New York Times)
In this new series
of paintings, Martinez’s line experiments continue to evolve. Pushing the
boundary of spontaneous gesture, Martinez performs brushstrokes on large-scale
canvases with the same speed and dexterity as marker pen on paper. The
resulting, dancing lines give form to blocks of colour in different densities,
that move and merge from semi-figuration to abstraction and back again.
Island I, the exhibition’s
title painting, refers to both the artist’s summer of production in his Long
Island studio, and the Rastafari concept of ‘I and I’. Rastas replace the
phrase ‘you and me’ with ‘I and I’, which expresses the belief that all people
are equal, as well as to symbolise the union of the body and soul (eye and I). The
eye could also be the artist’s signature; a recurring motif. Universality is
represented in the groupings of ambiguous forms that always populate Martinez’s
paintings, and the conflation of internal/external/foreground/background space.
On the other hand there is an instinctive nature to the practice that is
influenced not only by the art that Martinez studies and sees, but also the
music he listens to as he works, conversations that take place during the
production process, news events he reads about, and other ‘noise’.
Formally, the
paintings in this exhibition were produced with gestures limited by a temporary
physical handicap. A compression injury resulting from excessive tennis playing
– that coincided with the production period of the exhibition – created a
physical boundary that Martinez exploited as process. “Limited movements make
fast, confident moves on the canvas,” he explains. When confronted with the
canvases, Martinez’s performance becomes apparent. The artist’s reach is
described by the gestures realised on canvas; self-portraiture in motion, but
the self is not singular.
Martinez was
recently included in New York Close Up, Art 21’s documentary
film series. He has been featured in Modern Painters, The New York Times,
Interview Magazine, The New York Sun, The Boston Globe, ArtReview, The Brooklyn
Rail, and Art in America.
Martinez lives and
works in Brooklyn, New York.
http://www.timothytaylorgallery.com/exhibitions/eddie-martinez-island-i/info/
ISLAND I - 2014
Dimension: 182.9 × 274.3 cm
ALL INCLUSIVE ( DETAIL ) - 2013
ALL INCLUSIVE - 2013
Dimension: 213.4 x 304.8 cm
ALL INCLUSIVE ( DETAIL ) - 2013
UNTITLED - 2014
Rubber, Plaster, Foam, Metal, Plastic, Wood,
Enamel, Oil Paint Spray Paint, Epoxy
Dimension: 30.5 ×
15.2 × 33 cm
UNTITLED - 2014
Dimension: 101.6 × 76.2 cm
HAPPY PAINTING - 2014
Dimension: 213.4 x 304.8 cm / 84 x 120 in.,
MATADOR #6 “CATTLE GHOSTS ’’ - 2013
Dimension: 213.4 x 304.8 cm
UNTITLED - 2014
Dimension: 274.3 × 365.8 cm
UNTITLED - 2013
Dimension: 182.9 x 152.4 cm
POST SOMETHING - 2014
Oil Paint, Spray Paint, Enamel, collaged baby wipe,
computer paper, thumbtacks on canvas
Diemension: 101.6 × 76.2 cm
EMOTIONAL ARCHITECTURE, 2013-2014
Dimension: 182.9 × 152.4 cm
UNTITLED - 2013
Oil and Spray Paint on Paper
Dimension: 76.2 × 55.9 cm
Courtesy of the Artist
TIMOTHY TAYLOR GALLERY
EDDIE MARTINEZ
Eddie Martinez has
gained international recognition for his extraordinary use of line and
manipulation of colour, which he applies aggressively and in vividly
contrasting combinations to his paintings and sculptures. His style draws from
a deep understanding of painting’s histories, filtered through personal
experience, popular culture and sport. Described as “indomitable” by Interview magazine, Martinez has recently attracted
attention for his “exceptional gifts as a painter and draftsman, which he
exuberantly combines.” (Roberta Smith, New York Times). Martinez’s paintings
incorporate course brushwork and bold contours through the combination of
mediums such as oil, enamel and spray paint, and often include collaged found
objects.
Martinez has had
solo exhibitions at Peres Projects, Berlin; Half Gallery, New York; The Journal
Gallery, Brooklyn; and ZieherSmith, New York. His work has been included in the
group exhibitions Body Language, The Saatchi Gallery,
London (2013–2014); New York Minute, Garage Centre For
Contemporary Culture, Moscow (2011); Not Quite Open for Business,
The Hole, New York (2010); Draw, Museo de la Cuidad
de México, Mexico City (2010); So Wrong, I’m Right, Blum &
Poe, Los Angeles (2007); Mail Orders and Monsters,
Deitch Projects, New York (2007); and Panic Room: Works from
the Dakis Joannou Collection, Deste Foundation Centre for Contemporary Art,
Athens (2006).
Martinez was
recently included in New York Close Up, Art 21’s documentary film series. He
has been featured in Modern Painters, The New York Times, Interview Magazine,
The New York Sun, The Boston Globe, ArtReview, The Brooklyn Rail, and Art in
America.
Eddie Martinez was
born in Connecticut, USA, in 1977. He lives and works in
Brooklyn, New York.
http://www.timothytaylorgallery.com/artists/eddie-martinez/bio/
