AMERICA MARTIN IN NEW MEXICO
203
FINE ART
Early Modern to Contemporary
AMERICA MARTIN IN NEW MEXICO
Artist Reception: August 23, 2019 | 5-7pm Exhibition Dates: August 23 - September 15, 2019
INTRODUCTION
203 Fine Art has represented America Martin since
2006, and has organized five solo exhibitions of her work. For this show, Martin wanted to create a series of landscapes that explore her abiding connection to New Mexico.
Martin traveled to a remote area along the Chama River to
create this plein air series. As she turns her attention from figures to the Northern New Mexico landscape, her gift for abstract interpretation comes through as strongly as ever. Bringing her perspective to an iconic geography, Martin’s rendering of the New Mexico landscape is reminiscent of well-known Early Modernists such as Marsden Hartley and John Marin. Admirers of her figurative work will immediately recognize her evocative, simplified forms and playful use of color in this new body of work, which we are proud to present.
America has been an artist-in-residence at Gigapix
Studios, Chatsworth, CA, and the Walter Anderson Museum, Ocean Springs, MS. Her work is regularly featured in solo exhibitions and is included in private collections across the United States. She currently lives and works in her hometown of Los Angeles.
ARTIST’s STATEMENT I have been working with Shaun and Eric of 203 Fine Art for the last 13 years. They both are a very special reason why I love New Mexico - their relaxed, gentle and raw perspective on life has colored the way I feel about my visits and has garnered a very honest working relationship. We haven’t had a show in several years and I wanted to do something that was a little bit more authentic to New Mexico and for me. This series is fun because it visually tells a story of how New Mexico and I got on. In my work “line” is every other word in my vocabulary. But with these pieces you see the line fall away and the painting become more sculptural leaning more on composition to tell the story and then the work falls back to line. These changes are so organic - I only noticed when I was choosing the work for the show. I am honored that Shaun and Eric are giving these very personal joyful landscapes a go.
The first time I came to Taos, New Mexico I was with my mother we came in along the highroad from Albuquerque I began to be aware of a feeling that felt like a sound
View from the High Road, 24 x 30�, oil and acrylic on canvas, 2019 1
Rain in the Canyon, 19 x 24�, oil and acrylic on canvas, 2019 2
As when you’re driving and you go into a higher gear And you feel just the smallest relief when the whine of the gears stops And you didn’t know that you were annoyed by that sound
Taos Gorge, 74 x 33�, oil and acrylic on canvas, 2019 3
I felt my belly drop and my shoulders sit lower As if there was some form of good magnets in the dirt beneath me and my body felt grounded and happy
Late Afternoon in The Canyon, 20 x 20�, oil and acrylic on canvas, 2019 4
The Three Graces, 66 x 68�, oil and acrylic on canvas, 2019 5
Woman with Book, 44 x 81�, oil and acrylic on linen, 2019 6
Pond Trees in The Canyon, 24 x 24�, oil and acrylic on canvas, 2019 7
I’m a figurative painter and people have always been my favorite landscape but for my birthday this year July 7, 2019 I had the notion to rent a little cabin somewhere in New Mexico far away from people and go outside and paint landscapes
The place far away from people turned out to be a magical spot called Gallina ranch along the Chama River 15 miles off the paved road there in the heart of Gallina canyon
Chama River, 24 x 24�, oil and acrylic on canvas, 2019 8
Dirt Road, 20 x 20�, oil and acrylic on canvas, 2019 9
Meadow in The Canyon, 24 x 24�, oil and acrylic on canvas, 2019 10
Trees in The Canyon, 24 x 24�, oil and acrylic on canvas, 2019 11
The owners have long loved this land and the land has responded Trees, gardens, hummingbirds and rabbits abound And tossed on the midst of the wind are the clanking of cow bells
Home was a tender solar powered Cabin and from that door that would be left open at night I would wander come the light of day and find a spot and stay there painting till my boyfriend would find me with a headlamp and help me carry down my successes and failures
Cliff At Sunset, 24 x 24�, oil and acrylic on canvas, 2019 12
Sky and Clouds, 20 x 20�, oil and acrylic on canvas, 2019 13
Typically with all good things we have experienced we accept or want to feel them again and never quite do
Because it turns out it wasn’t so much the place but it was you that colored the remembered experience
In the case of New Mexico I change but it stays resonant steadfast and lovely
4 Chiefs and 4 Horses, 55 x 50�, oil and acrylic on canvas, 2019 14
203
FINE ART
Early Modern to Contemporary
1335 Gusdorf Rd. Suite i . Taos . New Mexico 87571 575.751.1262 . art@203fineart.com . 203FINEART.com