Eddie Martinez: Open Feast

Yuz Museum, West Bund, Shanghai
November 7, 2019 – January 12, 2020

Yuz Museum is pleased to present “Open Feast,” Brooklyn-based artist Eddie Martinez’s first solo exhibition in mainland China, from November 7th, 2019 to January 12th, 2020 at Yuz Project Space of Art. Comprised of a new series of drawings and paintings, the exhibition will comprehensively explore the artist’s practice as well as his study of pop culture, sports, art history and his personal experiences.

Martinez has gained international recognition for his extraordinary use of line and manipulation of color. Based on primal interactions and permeated with the visceral breath of life, his works are fresh and free of stylization. Brushes, palette knives, fingers, screws, the wrong ends of brushes and whatever else is around him serve as tools for his paintings. His drawings, born on the way to the studio, a restaurant or during his leisure time, become the starting point for his paintings. The works on paper function as a diary faithfully documenting observations of the world. Unconstrained by venue, materials or topic, Martinez builds an infinite universe within the limitations of the canvas, probing deeply into borders and freedom. As the artist illuminates, “I am drawn to containers. Putting marks, colors and shapes in a neat confined area all smashed in and having a solid blocked out background makes me feel like I am able to exploit maximalism and minimalism in the same picture. That feels pretty complete to me. It’s something I’ve been exploring for over a decade.”

For this exhibition, the artist accomplished two of his largest works ever, drawing inspiration from the architecture and atmosphere of the museum. The new works emanate from his most well-known “Table” and “Mandala” series, establishing a breakthrough compared to previous experiments in boundaries and limitations. Through “Open Feast,” Martinez invites the audience to view his art feast open-mindedly: “make the free free of the open, ” visualizing Martin Heidegger’s “the world worlds.”

About the artist

Born in Connecticut, 1977, Eddie Martinez now lives and works in Brooklyn and has exhibited widely in museums and art institutions. His solo exhibitions include: “Eddie Martinez: Fast Eddie,” Museum of Contemporary Art, Detroit, 2019; “White Outs,” The Bronx Museum, New York, 2018; “Blockhead Stacks,” Perrotin, Tokyo, 2018; “Eddie Martinez: Studio Wall, ” Drawing Center, New York, 2017; “Ants at a Picknic,” Davis Museum at Wellesley College, Wellesley, 2017; “Salmon Eye,” Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York, 2016; “Island I, ” Timothy Taylor Gallery, London, 2014; “Eddie Martinez: Selected Drawings 2005-2011,” Schwarz Contemporary, Berlin, 2011, etc. Group shows include: “Jaywalkers,” Loyal Gallery, Stockholm, 2019; “The Sleeping Procession,” Cass Sculpture Foundation, Chichester, 2017-2018; “New York Painting,” Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn, 2015; “The Avant-Garde Won’t Give Up: Cobra and Its Legacy, ” Blum & Poe, Los Angeles, 2015; “Body Language,” Saatchi Gallery, London, 2014, etc.

Exhibitions at Yuz Museum are organized in partnership with LACMA and Qatar Museums