Any kind of paintings are interesting to me. You show me a painting in a barbershop, a painting by some kid, any painting. I love paintings. – Chris Martin
Chris Martin’s all-encompassing art practice includes references to pop culture, art history, drugs, and arts-and-crafts, to name just a few. In this untitled work, Martin depicts a child-like landscape in fanciful colors and purple glitter. Martin has explained that his use of glitter comes from his job as an art therapist in the 1990s and early 2000s working with AIDS patients and people struggling with addiction and mental illness. It is a testament to Martin’s skill as an artist – and his decades-long dedication the discipline of painting – that a work composed of such simple elements possesses such a joyful clarity and openness. Martin has been the subject of solo exhibitions at institutions worldwide, including recent exhibitions at Kunsthalle Düsseldorf and the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
photo credit: thomas müller