Patrick Martinez
{{Short description|American visual artist}}
Patrick Martinez (born 1980) is a visual artist based in Los Angeles. He works in mixed-media landscape paintings, neon sign artwork, as well as his Pee Chee collection of works.{{Cite web|last=Ohanesian|first=Liz|date=September 14, 2016|title=Retro 'Pee-Chee' Folders are Re-envisioned to Memorialize Victims of Police Violence|url=https://www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/retro-pee-chee-folders-are-re-envisioned-to-memorialize-victims-of-police-violence|website=KCET Artbound}} One of his signature styles of art is depicting and memorializing victims of abuse as the subjects of his art.{{Cite web|last=Sandler|first=Leah|title=Artist Patrick Martinez remixes everyday stuff like school supplies, store neons and sheet cakes into artifacts of brutality|url=https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/california-artist-patrick-martinez-remixes-everyday-stuff-like-school-supplies-store-neons-and-sheet-cakes-into-artifacts-of-brutality/Content?oid=4706133|access-date=2021-04-23|website=Orlando Weekly|language=en}}
Biography
Patrick Martinez was born in Los Angeles in 1980 to mixed race parents of Filipino, Mexican, and Native American descent. He spent his childhood residing in Los Angeles which influences much of his art.{{Cite web|last=Miranda|first=Carolina|date=2017-02-07|title=How graffiti, neon signs and Pee-Chee folders taught artist Patrick Martinez to see Los Angeles|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/miranda/la-et-cam-patrick-martinez-20170207-story.html|access-date=2021-04-23|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}} He is known for mixed media landscape, painting, and neon artwork that often speaks out for diversity and justice. His work has been exhibited all over the world but can be seen at LACMA as well as the Charlie James Gallery in Los Angeles. The importance of diversity, immigration, and racism are all common themes of his work, which aims to shed light upon the growing issue of inequality.{{Cite web|title=CHARLIE JAMES GALLERY {{!}} Patrick Martinez|url=https://www.cjamesgallery.com/artist-detail/patrick-martinez|access-date=2021-04-23|language=en-US}} Growing up in Los Angeles, California, Patrick Martinez has recounted unfair interactions with police officers. These interactions with law enforcement often left him feeling harassed.{{Cite web|last=Davis-Marks|first=Isis|date=2020-06-08|title=Artist Patrick Martinez Paints Moving Tributes to Victims of Police Brutality|url=https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-artist-patrick-martinez-paints-moving-tributes-victims-police-brutality|access-date=2021-04-23|website=Artsy|language=en}} One of his first known pieces is his Pee- Chee All Season Portfolio, which was a collection of illustrations, doodles, and helpful tips for how to conduct oneself during a police encounter.{{Cite web|last=Black|first=Ezrha Jean|date=2017-01-18|title=Patrick Martinez – All Season Portfolio|url=https://artillerymag.com/patrick-martinez-season-portfolio/|access-date=2021-04-23|website=Artillery Magazine|language=en-US}} Many of his works draw upon feelings of profiling and mistreatment from police.{{Cite web|last=Radio|first=Southern California Public|date=2016-08-02|title=SoCal artist uses Pee-Chee style to depict police use of force|url=https://www.scpr.org/programs/take-two/2016/08/02/50918/socal-artist-uses-pee-chee-style-to-document-exces/|access-date=2021-04-23|website=Southern California Public Radio}} The art of Patrick Martinez often falls into the category of Social History of Art. This is because many of his pieces are indistinguishably linked to social and political events that occurred at the same time he created them. These social events which occurring alongside his art gave them context in how the art should be viewed.{{Cite web|title=Social history of art|url=https://www.oxfordartonline.com/groveart/view/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.001.0001/oao-9781884446054-e-7000079457|access-date=2021-04-18|website=Grove Art Online|date=2003 |language=en|doi=10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.T079457|isbn=978-1-884446-05-4 |last1=Aulinger |first1=B. }}
Education
Martinez earned a Bachelors in Fine Arts with Honors from Art Center College of Design in 2005.{{Cite web|title=Patrick Martinez - Artists - Fort Gansevoort|url=https://www.fortgansevoort.com/artists/patrick-martinez/cv|access-date=2021-04-23|website=www.fortgansevoort.com}} In 2021, he was awarded the Rauschenberg Residency, an artist-in-residence program at artist Robert Rauschenberg's former residence in Captiva Island, Florida, but due to the outbreak of Covid-19, the residency was postponed.{{Cite web|work=Charlie James Gallery |title=Patrick Martinez|url=https://www.cjamesgallery.com/artist-detail/patrick-martinez|access-date=2021-04-19|language=en-US}}
Artworks
His most notable artworks are his "Po-lice Misconduct Misprint- Lost Colors Series".{{Cite web|url=https://www.calfund.org/nonprofits/featured-funds/fva/2019-gallery/patrick-martinez/|access-date=2021-03-19|website=www.calfund.org|title=Patrick Martinez}} This series depicts victims of police brutality and pays homage to those victims. In the wake of the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, Martinez responded through art with the creation of his "Racism Doesn't Rest During a Pandemic Pee Chee" (No Justice No Peace 2020). This piece depicts the faces of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, who all died at the hands of police. Patrick Martinez's childhood experiences of racism and his diverse ethnic background gave him a voice to speak out against racism and police brutality through his art.{{Cite web|last=Salseda|first=Rose|date=January 25, 2017|title=Black and Blue and Brown: Artists Depict Police Brutality|url=https://www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/black-and-blue-and-brown-artists-depict-police-brutality|website=KCET Artbound}}
Patrick Martinez has exhibited both locally and internationally. Cities such as Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, and even The Netherlands have all housed his exhibitions. The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, The Albright- Knox Art Gallery, the Cornell Fine Arts Museum are all museums which have displayed Martinez's art.{{Cite web|title=Patrick Martinez|url=https://atlanticcenterforthearts.org/master-artist/patrick-martinez/|access-date=2021-04-23|website=Atlantic Center for the Arts|language=en-US}} As well as the Charlie James Gallery in Los Angeles Patrick's work can be seen in a permanent collection at LACMA.
In the Fall of 2021 Patrick's artwork will also be exhibited in the Tucson Museum of Art as part of a solo exhibition.
Exhibitions
| class="wikitable"
|+ Solo Exhibitions {| class="wikitable" |+ !Exhibition !Organization !Location !Date |
| Forbidden Fruit
|New Image Gallery |Los Angeles, California |2015 |
| America Is For Dreamers
|Vincent Price Art Museum |Los Angeles, California |2017 |
| American Memorial
|Cornell Fine Arts Museum |Winter Park, Florida |2017 |
| Po-lice
|Occidental College |Los Angeles, California |2017 |
| All Season Portfolio
|Charlie James Gallery |Los Angeles, California |2017 |
| Remembering To Forget
|Charlie James Gallery |Los Angeles, California |2018 |
| That Which We Do Not See
|Fort Gansevoort |New York City, New York |2019 |
Group Shows
!Exhibition
!Organization
!Location
!Date
|-
|No Struggle, No Progress
|Rock Rose Gallery
|Los Angeles, California
|2003
|-
|Keep It Real
|Show And Tell Gallery
|Toronto, Canada
|2010
|-
|All In For The 99%
|New Image Art, Ace Museum
|Los Angeles, California
|2012
|-
|A Sign Only Has To Serve As A Sign
|Providence College Galleries
|Providence, Rhode Island
|2015
|-
|Mooncakes, Churros, And Cherry Pie
|Euphrat Museum Of Art
|Cupertino, California
|2015
|-
|Southland
|Charlie James Gallery
|Los Angeles, California
|2016
|-
|Flash Point 2017: Twenty-Five Years After The 1992 Los Angeles Uprising
|UCLA
|Los Angeles, California
|2017
|-
|Galerie LeLong
|New York City, NY
|2018
|-
|Studio Museum
|Harlem, New York City, NY
|2018
|}
= Special projects =
| class="wikitable"
|+ !Exhibition !Organization !Location !Date |
| Pee- Chee Folder Edition, 10 Rules Of Survival If Stopped By The Police
|Occidental College |Los Angeles, California |2017 |
| Pee- Chee Folder, Flash Point 2017: Twenty-Five Years After The 1992 Los Angeles Uprising
|UCLA |Los Angeles, California |2017 |
| LA Origin City Wide Campaign
|Presented By The Mayors Fund |Los Angeles, California |2017 |
Collections
His artwork is held in the permanent collection of several museums including the Smithsonian African American Museum of History and Culture, Los Angeles County Museum of Art,{{Cite web|title=Fallen Empire {{!}} LACMA Collections|url=https://collections.lacma.org/node/2276408|access-date=2021-04-27|website=collections.lacma.org}} Autry Museum of the American West, Cornell Fine Arts Museum,{{Cite web|title=Recent Acquisitions {{!}} Cornell Fine Arts Museum {{!}} Rollins College {{!}} Orlando, FL|url=https://www.rollins.edu/cornell-fine-arts-museum/collection/recent-acquisitions/|access-date=2021-04-27|website=www.rollins.edu|quote=Racism Doesn't Rest During a Pandemic Pee Chee (No Justice No Peace), 2020.36}} Columbus Museum of Art, Crocker Art Museum, and Museum of Latin American Art.
Bibliography
[https://www.sfaq.us/2016/08/what-resonates-southland-at-charlie-james-gallery/ WHAT RESONATES: SOUTHLAND AT CHARLIE JAMES GALLERY - ESSENCE HARDEN — AUGUST 22, 2016]
[https://static1.squarespace.com/static/55ee2fc1e4b0c1020ff7e01a/t/5c7990ce4e17b6763e16b675/1551470812032/2016Iconic+%27Pee-Chee%27+folders+reimagined+with+familiar+scenes+of+police+brutality.pdf Splinter - June 29, 2016 - Iconic ‘Pee-Chee’ folders reimagined with familiar scenes of police brutality - By Jorge Rivas]
References
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Patrick}}