ARTIST:

Jose Carlos Martinat

Ejercicio Superficial #12
Jose Carlos Martinat
Ejercicio Superficial #12
Jose Carlos Martinat
Ejercicio Superficial #12
Jose Carlos Martinat
Ejercicio Superficial #12
Jose Carlos Martinat
Ejercicio Superficial #12
Jose Carlos Martinat
Ejercicio Superficial #12
Jose Carlos Martinat
Ejercicio Superficial #12
Jose Carlos Martinat
Ejercicio Superficial #12
Jose Carlos Martinat
Ejercicio Superficial #12
Jose Carlos Martinat
Ejercicio Superficial #12
Jose Carlos Martinat
Ejercicio Superficial #12
Jose Carlos Martinat
Ejercicio Superficial #12
Jose Carlos Martinat
Ejercicio Superficial #12
Jose Carlos Martinat

Jose Carlos Martinat’s art is at the interface of real and virtual worlds; his sources of inspiration are architecture and the urban milieu, human and cyberspace memories. His multimedia installations and sculptural assemblages incorporate a diversity of materials and strategies to alter preconceptions in regards to where things belong, he brings imprints meant for the street to the gallery, as an archeologist of sorts. This offhand methodology manifests in a number of manners.
Banner-like objects are made from transfers of political parties’ logos found in the city walls by means of lifting off the texture of the paint in resin. These Pintas are unmediated appropriations of political slogans fragments that end up pasted onto gallery walls.
The fascination with architectural modernism is matched in Martinat’s case by a penchant for a certain kitsch aesthetic that he articulates with the inclusion of tagging, strident colour and street art strategies. His Ejercicios Superficiales series encompasses a number of bodies of work in different mediums that generally evoke the idea of superficiality in the use of readymade surfaces covered in graffiti.
The superficiality of his intention – or rather his love of the surface – is also present in the sculptural composition Monumentos Vandalizables – Abstracción del Poder presented in the Mercosul Biennale of 2009, where fragments of emblematic buildings designed by Oscar Niemeyer for the futuristic Brasilia are built in white coated wood, and subsequently offered to the exhibition visitors to spray paint over them with slogans, graffiti and other intervention techniques. The dirtying of the icon could appear like a rebel boutade that conversely serves to perpetuate the iconography of modernism. It could also be a liberating force in the face of the widespread abuse of power.

Text © Gabriela Salgado

Save Your Cart
Share Your Cart
0
    0
    Your Cart
    Your cart is emptyReturn to Shop

    Search the Saatchi Gallery website

    Thank you for your enquiry!

    Your message was sent and one of our Admin team will respond as soon as possible.

    If you have an urgent question, please call our front desk on 020 7811 3070.

    For more information on how we store and use your data please view our privacy policy here. You can unsubscribe from our newsletters at any time by clicking on the links below the emails we send you.

    Essential Information Before Your Visit:
    Click Plan Your Visit for full information on upcoming closures.

    Register for email updates
    Be the first to hear about the latest Saatchi Gallery exhibitions, events, offers and news