Eddie Martinez: Cowboy Town

Eddie Martinez Cowboy Town Timothy Taylor

An exhibition of new paintings by Eddie Martinez. Deeply indebted to the histories of painting, yet realised in an immediately contemporary manner, Martinez’s canvases – formed from oil paint, enamel, spray paint, screen printing and studio detritus – are loaded with coloured, quasi-abstract masses in varying densities juxtaposed against shifting lines. The resulting dynamic imagery moves and merges from figuration to abstraction and back again.

Cowboy Town sees Martinez depart from recent bodies of work, as paintings are once again primarily figurative. Although not reminiscent of his early figurative works, they are a next step from the more recent abstract canvases. Each painting in this new body of work not only steps back into figuration, but also into an almost subconscious narrative, playing out in an open way. Gestures are strong but also impulsive. The paintings are full of energy and movement – images linger just out of reach, eluding fixed identity. One of Martinez’s remarkable traits is his ability to intuit the general mood of the world around him and translate the sentiment very clearly to his painting.

In Cowboy Town the paintings are raw, pared back, exposed. Backgrounds are solid, with imagery almost hovering on top. The paint is thinner, there’s an obvious reduction in ‘stuff’. And while the palette is typical Martinez – strong blues, yellows, reds – the underlying tone is sinister. The paintings are bright but nonetheless dark. For example, in the title painting, Cowboy Town, a face emerges through colour and gesture with a distinct expression of foreboding and dread.

Duration 30 March 2017 - 06 May 2017
Times Tuesday to Friday 10am–6pm, Saturday 11am–5pm, Monday by appointment
Cost Free
Venue Timothy Taylor
Address 15 Bolton Street, London, W1J 8BG
Contact 442074093344 / mail@timothytaylor.com / www.timothytaylor.com/

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