“Eddie Martinez’s densely packed paintings, rich with associations and imagery—all in the form of quotidian objects, sports paraphernalia, kitchen and dining items, art-history fragments—refuse to commit to a specific time or style.”
—Barbara A MacAdam
Through vibrant colour, dynamic brushwork, and abstract geometric form, Eddie Martinez invites the viewer into a world of expressive energy and spontaneity in this 2020 work. Amongst the bold and rapid brushwork and symphony of rich blues and yellows, a figure’s head and shoulders emerge from the central section of the composition, anchoring its looser forms and acting as a pivot point for Martinez’s play between abstraction and figuration.
Created through the deft layering of oil, acrylic, and spray paints, Open Ocean Mind retains a densely textured quality that compliments and counterpoints its lighter, brighter palette. The artist’s intuitive approach to his compositions allows for the constant evolution of his pictorial vocabulary while lending complexity and ambiguity to his subject matter. With no discernible focal point, Martinez asks the viewer to ‘not feel obligated to think anything, I don’t have anything in the work I want people to see, I want it to all be interpreted’. Exploring the boundaries of abstraction and interpretation, Open Ocean Mind is a work that is both dynamic and thought provoking.
Currently living and working in Brooklyn, New York, Eddie Martinez was born in 1977 in Connecticut. Martinez has participated in five museum shows in the last four years, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Detroit in 2019. Martinez sixth solo show is currently on view at Space K Gallery in Seoul, South Korea until June 2024.