André Martinez-Reed "Homage"
Henry Gregg Gallery
This event has ended.
The exhibition is a culmination of three years work. A master jazz musician and gifted artisan, Martinez transposes his base mastery onto the visual plain via multiplicity of layered oils, inks, varnish, chalks, lead and Venetian plasters. Bold and free, after utilizing brushes he shapes his subjects, tableau, by hand, fusing the material to the visceral. In this fashion the painter surrenders to the hypnotic. The results are captivating, enabling the viewer a portal into the micro cosmos of life forms, entry into the known, inexplicable caverns of that which is so often over looked in ones self, in the surrounding universe.
Martinez is a contemporary spiritual iconographer representing religious figures to convey mysteries both enchanting and sorrowful. Drawing inspiration for this show from Leonardo da Vinci, Degas, Rembrandt, Monet, Renoir, Picasso, Courbet and Bacon, Martinez sees himself as a vessel carrying on from the masters, neither imitator nor self conscious stylist. Continuing lessons learned from decades of jazz drumming and percussion Martinez strives to " free my hands, my mind and my soul ", confident in the end result. The foundation of his approach learned from a decade long membership in the orchestra of legendary avant-garde jazz leader, Cecil Taylor: to be " free, fearless and precise."
Complimenting the dozen paintings on exhibit are a small number of photos. Using the camera to illustrate the presence of the para normal, the spiritual, Martinez shot seemingly mundane, unremarkable scenes of house furnishings stirring in normal light using no more than a simple lens and film. The images caught are surreal, suggesting, isolating, a spirit presence.
Media
Schedule
from January 22, 2009 to March 15, 2009
Opening Reception on 2009-01-22 from 18:00 to 21:00