Published by Skira. Edited with text by Dan Nadel. Text by Glenn O'Brien, Nancy Princenthal, Trinie Dalton.
Drawing on inspirations ranging from Buddhism and American modernist painting to psychedelia and Amy Winehouse, Brooklyn-based painter Chris Martin (born 1954) “lets the paintings make themselves,” with often generously scaled canvases characterized by flat yet textured planes of bright, saturated color, frequently incorporating found materials and highly personal paper ephemera. The emphatic geometries of his paintings, which indicate his attachment to Piet Mondrian, are another signature touch, conveying a genially brash New York energy (Martin’s practice came of age in 1980s New York, which saw the explosion of the East Village art scene, led by Keith Haring). This first full overview on Martin collects essays by Glenn O’Brien, Nancy Princenthal, Trinie Dalton and Dan Nadel.
Published by Anton Kern Gallery, New York/Karma, New York. Edited by Madeline Hollander. Interview by Bob Nickas.
This book presents a selection of paintings by Brooklyn-based artist Chris Martin (born 1954), created over the summer of 2014 in upstate New York, along with snapshots from his studio and daily life. Martin creates bold, glittering paintings, each animated by undulating forms and electric hues.
PUBLISHER Anton Kern Gallery, New York/Karma, New York
BOOK FORMAT Hardcover, 11.75 x 12.25 in. / 120 pgs / 73 color.
PUBLISHING STATUS Pub Date 7/28/2015 Out of stock indefinitely
DISTRIBUTION D.A.P. Exclusive Catalog: FALL 2015 p. 177
PRODUCT DETAILS ISBN 9781938560781FLAT40 List Price: $40.00 CAD $54.00 GBP £35.00
One of America’s finest abstract painters, Chris Martin (born 1954) explores the fertile areas between sophisticated formalism and the visionary joy of outsider art, making abstract painting look enviably effortless. For this massive volume, Martin and Dan Nadel have assembled a massive compendium of Martin’s drawings from the past 30 years, presenting them chronologically so the reader–viewer can follow the artist’s continual pursuit and discovery of new forms--from sound waves to mushrooms to Tantric arches to the iconic visages of James Brown and Sigmar Polke. For Martin, drawing is an end in itself that also often leads to themes he later reprises and explores in his painting. Taking its design inspiration from the artist’s books of Dieter Roth, Drawings acts as a flipbook of discovery, one that charts Martin’s artistic development over the past three decades.
Published by Walther König, Köln. Foreword and introduction by Gregor Jansen. Text by Elodie Evers, Lars Bang Larsen, Alexander Koch, Bob Nickas.
This is the first comprehensive publication on the work of Chris Martin (born 1954), one of America’s finest contemporary abstract painters. Martin’s enormous, sunny canvases are enthusiastic in execution, heroic in scale while also expressing something of the rogue spirit of outsider art. Many of them are dedicated to such artists and musicians as Harry Smith, Frank Moore and James Brown, whose names are inscribed in coarse strokes upon the works. Martin’s paintings are underlain with such everyday detritus as stuck-on coins, vinyl records, banana skins, newspaper articles and slices of bread. Despite such rough, utterly profane surfaces, it is a spiritual tradition of abstraction that Martin’s work draws from: Native American folklore, religious mysticism, anthroposophist symbolism, the landscape painting of North American romanticism--and the great melting pot of New York City itself, where Martin has lived since 1975.
Published by Mitchell-Innes & Nash. Text by Bruce Hainley.
Chris Martin's paintings are investigations in color, form and texture, ranging from bold and graphic to gestural and expressionistic. He is deeply engaged with the history of abstraction, and many of his own paintings incorporate homages to artistic influences. Reviewing the works collected in this concise exhibition catalogue, The New York Times' Roberta Smith wrote, "It makes sense that Mr. Martin had his first solo show in 1988. Although he rightfully counts the painters Alfred Jensen and Forrest Bess among his inspirations, his style might be called 80s mongrel; a mélange of outtakes from Julian Schnabel, Keith Haring, Elizabeth Murray and Sigmar Polke. But he takes possession of all this by infusing it with his own sense of funky materiality, quasi-psychedelic color and hallucinatory light. Mainly he knows how to make a surface come to life with a fuss so minimal that it seems like showing off."