Martin continues to create bold, glittering paintings, each animated by undulating forms, radiating landscapes, and electric hues.
It is our great pleasure to announce the
representation and first exhibition of New York painter Chris
Martin at Anton Kern Gallery. His first show will consist of a
selection of new paintings created over the past summer in
upstate New York. These works, as the writer Bob Nickas
describes them in the accompanying book, present "sun-dried
paintings and glitter in the rain."
Martin, whose career spans over three decades, continues to
create bold, glittering paintings, each animated by undulating
forms, radiating landscapes, and electric hues. Despite their
immediate spectacle and immense scale (he connects
canvases together to produce several of these larger works),
the paintings exude a human grounded-ness that seems to stem directly from Martin’s connection to nature, rock &
roll, street art, and a dedication to material experimentation.
Nothing and everything is sacred: Martin’s abstract forms offer a sense of mystical clairvoyance condensed into the
profane, or vice versa. The paintings present a mesmerizing collision of formal geometries and diagram-like grids with
cut-outs of dead pop stars, flashy cars, old records buried under layers of paint, and large amounts of holographic
glitter (produced specifically for showgirls in Las Vegas). Consequently, Chris Martin’s paintings prove to be
masterfully ambidextrous; one is able to fully experience their presence from a great distance or up-close, indoors or
outdoors, in a state of spiritual transcendence or casual play.
Chris Martin has continuously exhibited in US and European galleries since the 1980s. His work has recently been
presented in solo shows at the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany; The Corcoran Gallery of Art,
Washington D.C. (both 2011); and the Nerman Museum, Kansas City, KS (2009). The work has also been included in
group shows at the Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY (2014); Museum Boijmans
Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands (2013); Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany (2011);
Richmond Center for Visual Arts, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI (2008); American Academy of Arts
and Letters, New York, NY (2006); P.S.1, Long Island City, NY (2005); Karl Ernst Osthaus Museum, Hagen,
Germany (2004); Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, Staten Island, NY (2004); Weatherspoon Art Gallery,
University of North Carolina, NC (1998); The Denver Museum, Denver, CO (1991); La Jolla Museum of
Contemporary Art, California, CA (1989); and The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY (1988). Martin lives and works in
Brooklyn and upstate New York.
* A new monograph Chris Martin, published by Karma and Anton Kern Gallery will accompany the exhibition including
a conversation with Bob Nickas and the artist.
Opening 9th October
Anton Kern Gallery
532 West 20th Street 212-New York USA
Hour: Tuesday through Saturday, 10 am - 6 pm.