MAURO C. MARTINEZ

Joining us at The Fores Project in July, 2021 Mauro C. Martinez produced several paintings building on his cursed images series. Using both oil and acrylic, the artist’s work contrasts the slow pace of traditional oil painting with the mass consumption of quickly made and distributed online images. Martinez addresses this by producing paintings of online image consumption such as Cursed Intimacy, 2021 (above) as well as studies of cursed images, memes and other online phenomena.

Both documentarian and iconoclast, Martinez examines internet culture through traditional painting practices, whilst scrutinizing the medium and its traditions. Martinez weighs the online image against the painted image, unpacking their inherent value systems. Adjusting his practice, he mirrors the character of his subjects and the digital spaces they inhabit. Going beyond memes, Martinez references the gamut: cursed images, niche fetish subcultures, shitpost account admins, AI generated images and appropriated UI graphics like Instagram’s “Sensitive Content” and “False Information” filters. Working prototypically and championing no particular style, the artist is able to meet his subjects on their own terms. Martinez attempts to make a redemptive case for painting's continuation as a historical and anthropological tool — painting is not dead.

Mauro C. Martinez lives and works in San Antonio, Texas. He attended Pasadena’s Art Centre College of Design. His Solo Shows Include Big Mood, Unit London, UK (2020), Painting is STILL Just Slow Memes, GDT Studios, Fort Worth (2020), USA, Painting is Just Slow Memes, Flatlines Gallery, San Antonio, USA, (2020), Cultural Landscaping, Schwartz Gallery, Laredo, USA (2019), Image Breaking, Odessa Nomadic, Denver, USA (2018), La Republica, MUSA Alternative Art Space, Texas, USA (2017), The Birth of the Clinic, Svper Ordinary, Denver, USA (2016), Behold The Man, Space Gallery, Laredo, USA (2015).

Group Shows include Amnesia, High Tide, Philadelphia, USA (2019), Copy/Paste/Erase, Galerie C.O.A, Montreal, Canada (2017), En Bola, De Stijl Gallery, Austin, USA (2017), Alive Today, Viu Gallery, Miami, USA (2016), 347 Clarence, 347 Clarence Gallery, Los Angeles, USA (2015), amongst others.