Lot description
紐約電力 New York Electric 簽名題識左下：MARTINEZ NEW YORK ELECTRIC 簽名題識畫背：E. MARTINEZ "NEW YORK ELECTRIC" OIL, ACRYLIC, SPRAY PAINT 2010 Signed lower left MARTINEZ and titled NEW YORK ELECTRIC Signed reverse E. MARTINEZ, titled NEW YORK ELECTRIC, inscribed OIL, ACRYLIC, SPRAY PAINT and dated 2010 馬丁內斯1977 年出生於美國康乃狄克州，現居紐約布魯克林。拉丁語根源的姓氏，透露家族來自南美的文化背景。 早期具象風格，時常可見畫中人物、貓咪、貓頭鷹，瞪大黑白分明的眼睛，頗有自我形象投射之意。於此同時，馬丁內斯似乎對紙上媒材，有獨特偏愛。他時常將筆下的肖像或靜物題材，融合素描式技巧，大量黑色背景，撞色鮮豔紅色波點、棋盤格子等物件，造型十分可愛。自承其創作精神與內涵，接近於荷蘭CoBrA 眼鏡蛇畫派，該團體反學院派風格，創作展現的速度感、放棄控制與自動性，還有類似兒童的大型塗鴉。《紐約時報》曾以「眼鏡蛇畫家風格復興」（reviving styles of the Cobra painters）來形容馬丁內斯的創作。 馬丁內斯自詡身為創作者，不應該過度引導觀者去解讀作品，也因此在其創作裡沒有強烈的社會或政治批判意識。他不喜歡別人將自己的藝術類比於德．庫寧（Willem de Kooning）、古斯頓（Philip Guston）或是巴斯奇亞（Jean-Michel Basquiat）的啟發。如果非得要定義他的風格，毋寧說是一種「畢卡索式的混亂爆炸」！他欽佩畢卡索的多產，敢於使用各種媒材，勇於嘗試並挑戰繪畫歷史。2010 年開始擺脫具象，2012 年則全心開始投入抽象畫，2013 年是關鍵的時期，馬丁內斯嘗試了雕塑作品，把他創作中對線條、構圖與色彩探索後的感想立體呈現。他將日常生活的物件的組合，鑄造成銅件，再施以色彩顏料賦予新生命。在拼組與構成的過程中，進行物質文化的探索。2015 開始使用絲網印刷（silkscreen），得以將繪畫素描轉譯放大，產生豐富的意象。2016 年「情書系列」（Love Letter Series），像是放大版的筆記本，圖文交錯，有一種親密的情感。 藝評家常以「盛宴」（The Feast），形容馬丁內斯筆下豐富的靜物世界，如現代版義大利大師卡拉瓦喬（Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio），他的靜物繪畫帶給觀者豐盈富足的視覺饗宴。馬丁內斯也擅長三維空間平面化，使用居高俯視構圖，將物件比例隨心所欲的縮放。2010 年創作之《紐約電力》鮮明寶藍色背景，襯托擺滿物件的桌面（畫面），如孩童攤開玩具箱，展示著心愛的收藏品。蠟筆塗鴉般的粗線條，繪製著玩具、撲克牌、錄音帶、螺絲五金等物件。物件半具象的外觀，足見此時藝術家過渡到純抽象風格的過程。畫中另一引人入勝之處，粗黑線條勾勒如石膏白底的兩個呆瓜大眼頭像「Blockhead」。依據藝術家創作的脈絡判斷，此符碼從2005年開始不斷出現，或許能看作藝術家自我形象的表徵。2020 年與AllRightsReserved（ARR） 合作推出限量版「Blockhead Lamp」彩繪玻璃的立體雕塑，即是此主題的延續。 《紐約電力》畫作2011 年五月曾展覽於香港國際藝術博覽會（Art HK 11），和九月至十一月瑞士日內瓦派翠西亞．羅當代畫廊（Patricia Low Contemporary）舉辦的同名「紐約電力」馬丁內斯個人展覽之中。此展覽以花卉靜物題材，和半身肖像系列為主。量感扎實的油彩色料，層層以粗曠筆觸，疊加於蓬鬆畫布，兩相襯托之間張力十足。由媒材的選擇，觀者得以窺見，創作者認同歷史脈絡，並延續經典傳統的思維。然表現手法和形式，則完全以個人化即興式語彙完成。馬丁內斯曾兩度進入藝術學院，卻無法適應那樣環境帶來的限制。近乎自學摸索的創作方式，也成就他自由且獨樹一格的藝術表現。 2020 年1 月台北當代 Taipei Dangdai 藝術博覽會舉辦第二屆活動，未演先轟動，吸引更多家世界級畫廊參與。具有法國背景的貝浩登畫廊（Perrotin）在其展位發表了馬丁內斯「花予台灣」（Flowers for Taiwan）系列新作，色彩斑斕塗鴉、個性化線條筆觸的單一經典主題「靜物畫」，VIP 首日預覽會全數作品火速售罄，成為當天會場上最受關注的個展之一。國際大明星周杰倫與娛樂圈友人也特來朝聖，他是馬丁內斯的收藏家兼好友，據媒體推斷當天也將展品納入收藏。 馬丁內斯的成名不是偶然，他特立獨行、沉默寡言，低調創作，擄獲多位策展人、經紀人與收藏家的青睞。目前在紐約、倫敦各自有代理畫廊：米歇爾─英尼斯與納許畫廊（Mitchell Innes & Nash Gallery）、提姆斯．泰勒畫廊（Timothy Taylor Gallery）。而亞洲地區的推廣，多靠紮根甚深的貝浩登畫廊展覽合作。三年間，不同的藝術機構包括畫廊、藝術博覽會、拍賣會等，已在東京、香港、首爾、上海、台北分別為藝術家成功舉辦個展，人氣指數高。 過去三年間，馬丁內斯也受機構中心的重視，推出有五個博物館大型個展：從2017 年麻州的戴維斯博物館（Davis Museum）的「螞蟻野餐」（Ants at a Picknic）個展、紐約素描中心（The Drawing Center）的「工作室牆」（Studio Wall）紙上作品展；2018 年在紐約布朗克斯博物館（Bronx Museum）「覆蓋以白」（White Outs）雕塑和繪畫近作展；還有2019 年底特律當代藝術博物館（Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit）「快速艾迪新繪畫」（Fast Eddie: New Paintings），以及和上海余德耀美術館（YuzMuseum）「遊宴」（Open Feast）個展。其中，余德耀美術館展出一件 65 英呎（1981 公分）史詩級巨作，融匯了藝術家的心血結晶，充滿速度感與趣味。每一檔展覽都是天份與活力的展現，十年磨一劍，才華橫溢的藝術創作，令人目不轉睛。 Born in 1977 in Connecticut, U.S.A, Martinez currently resides in Brooklyn, New York. His Latin surname reveals the roots of his South American cultural background. In his earlier figurative style, the people, cats or owls in the paintings often featured big black and white eyes, which may be a projection of his own self-image. At the same time, Martinez seemed to show a preference for paper media, often integrating sketching techniques into the portrait or still life that he was working on. The large back background created a cute style by showing off objects, such as bright red polka dots or a checkerboard pattern. Martinez stated that his creative spirit and context was influenced by the Dutch CoBrA School. Artists of the school were known for their anti-academy style, sense of speed in art creation, abandonment of control, and automaticity, as well as a large graffiti style similar to children's drawings. The New York Times once described the works of Martinez as "reviving styles of the Cobra painters". Martinez claimed that as a creator, one should not provide too many instructions to influence how the viewers would interpret artworks. Therefore, his works do not convey a strong sense of social or political criticism. He also disliked comparison of his artworks to those by Willem de Kooning or Philip Guston, or attributing Jean-Michel Basquiat as his inspiration. If it's necessary to define his style, he would rather be called "Messy explosions of Picassos"! He admired Picasso's high productivity and courage to try out various media, daring to experiment and challenge the history of painting. In 2010, he began to move away from Expressionism, devoting himself entirely to abstract painting starting in 2012. The following year, 2013, was a critical period in his career, when Martinez experimented with sculptures, presenting his exploration of lines, compositions and colors in a three-dimensional format. He combined ordinary daily objects into bronze casts, before granting them new life by applying colorants. In the process of composition and assemblage, he would conduct an exploration of material culture. In 2015, he began to use silkscreen to reinterpret and enlarge paintings and sketches to create rich images. His 2016 Love Letter Series appeared as a magnified version of a notebook, offering an intimate feeling with text and image juxtaposition. "The Feast" has been used frequently by critics to describe the bountiful still life depicted by Martinez. Just like a modern version of Italian master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, his still life paintings brought about a rich and abundant visual feast to the viewers. Martinez also excelled at flattening a three-dimensional space, using a bird's eye view for composition to scale down objects as he wished. His 2010 painting New York Electric used a sapphire blue background to highlight the table top full of objects, just as a child spreading out his toy box to show off his toy collection. The crayon-like thick graffiti outlines delineated toys, playing cards, audio tapes, screws and other objects. The semiconcrete object appearance served as a transition period before the artist's pure abstraction style took hold. Another captivating detail of the painting was the two big-eyed idiot "blockheads" with dark black outlines on a white plaster background. Judging by the artist's creative context, this symbol may be seen as a representation of the artist's selfimage as it has appeared repetitively since 2005. In 2020, Martinez collaborated with AllRightsReserved (ARR) to launch a limited edition of Blockhead Lamp. The lamp was a three-dimensional sculpture of stained glass, which was an extension of this theme. The painting New York Electric had been displayed in May of 2011 at the Hong Kong International Art Fair 2011 (Art HK 11), as well as the New York Electric Martinez Solo Exhibition held by the Patricia Low Contemporary in Geneva, Switzerland from September to November of the same year. The focus of the exhibition was floral still life and a series of bust portraits. The dense oil colorants and layers of unrefined brushstrokes added coatings to the fluffy canvas, generating full tension between the two materials. The selection of the media allowed the viewers to observe how the artist identified with the historical context and continued the classic traditional thinking. However, the presentation technique and format were completed in the vocabulary of personalized improvisation. Martinez twice enrolled in art academies, but rejected the constraints of that environment. His selflearning and exploratory creative method enabled him to achieve his unique artistic performance in a care-free style. Among the world-class galleries that participated in the second annual Taipei Dangdai Art Fair in January 2020, the French-based Perrotin showcased Martinez's Flowers for Taiwan series with one classic topic - still life paintings delivered in the format of colorful graffiti with characteristic brush strokes. During the VIP-preview and vernissage on the first day, all paintings by Martinez sold out swiftly, becoming some of the most noted works at the fair. Several figures in the entertainment community were also present during the VIP-preview event, including international star Jay Chou, who happens to be a friend of Martinez and a collector of his work. Jay also added works by Martinez to his collection that day according the Press. Martinez did not become famous by accident. A maverick with a quiet and low-key sense of creativity, he has captured the attention of many curators, agents and collectors. Currently, the Mitchell Innes & Nash Gallery in New York and the Timothy Taylor Gallery in London both serve as his agents, while Perrotin, which has a worldwide network, helps with promotions with a focus in Asia. For the past three years, Martinez's popularity has led to successful solo exhibitions at various venues, including galleries, art exhibitions, and auctions in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai and Taipei. Prized by art institutions in the past three years, Martinez has launched large-scale solo exhibitions at five museums including: Ants at a Picknic at Davis Museum in Massachusetts, Studio Wall at the Drawing Center in New York in 2017, White Outs featuring recent works of sculptures and paintings at Bronx Museum in New York in 2018, and, for 2019, Fast Eddie: New Paintings at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, and the Open Feast solo exhibition at Yuz Museum in Shanghai. Specifically, an epic masterpiece 19.81 meters long was showcased at the Yuz Museum, which incorporated the heart and soul of Martinez filled with a thrilling sense of speed and humor. Overall, each exhibition served as a display of talent and energy, demonstrating Martinez's mature and captivating artistic styles which he has sharpened via more than a decade of creative practice.
