JoAnne Artman Gallery is pleased to present RETRO, an exhibition of new and retrospective work rooted in Martin’s investigation of the human form and its context. Featuring works spanning twenty years in the studio, RETRO affords an opportunity to highlight recently completed compositions as well as many archived pieces that have not been showcased before.
Continuing her unmistakable aesthetic sensibility, Martin seamlessly explores allegory through radical forms that hum with the vitality and vigor of the world around her. Focused on the human figure and the tales that emerge through the framework of shape, contour, and formal approach, Martin choreographs her forms in relentless flux.
Her technique of freehandedly capturing her subjects yields unapologetic marks and an unabashed palette often features anthropomorphic elements such as birds, butterflies and flowers. In conjunction with figures, these elements provide both a contextual source of information, as well as symbolic significance, progressing the storyline as a representation of personality, mood, and character. Within this pulsating interplay of color, texture, line, and shape, there is always a signature expression that identifies each work as an America Martin.
For Martin, every piece she has created is an extension of herself: replete with biographical anecdotes and self-reflection.
“I always remember a piece instantaneously. To me, [my older work] looks just like my own face. It seems similar, but I know comparatively, it looks different. Hopefully there is always a through-line of my thumb print.”
Together, the works in RETRO reveal Martin’s inner landscape- memory, perception, experience- all asserted with an intensely spirited grace. n
AMERICA MARTIN (b. 1980, Los Angeles, CA) is a Colombian-American artist based in Los Angeles, California.
JoAnne Artman Gallery
346 N Coast Hwy | Laguna Beach, CA 92651
www.joanneartmangallery.com