Cameron Martin (born 1970) is an American

contemporary artist Contemporary art is a term used to describe the art of today, generally referring to art produced from the 1970s onwards. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art i ...

. He is the co-chair of the Painting Department at the Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts at

Bard College Bard College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains within the Hudson River Historic District ...

. He lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.

Early life and education

Martin was born in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, in 1970. He received a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in Art and Semiotics from

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

in 1994. He continued his studies at the Whitney Independent Study Program in 1996. In the early 90s, Martin maintained a short career as a professional skateboarder. In 1990-1991, he belonged to the Bones Brigade, a team that notably included

Tony Hawk Anthony Frank Hawk (born May 12, 1968), nicknamed Birdman, is an American professional skateboarder, entrepreneur, and the owner of the skateboard company Birdhouse. A pioneer of modern vertical skateboarding, Hawk completed the first docume ...

Rodney Mullen John Rodney Mullen (born August 17, 1966) is an American professional skateboarder who practices freestyle skateboarding and street skateboarding. He is considered the most influential skateboarder of all time. Mullen is credited for inventing ...

, and

Steve Caballero Steve Caballero (born November 8, 1964) is an American professional skateboarder. He is known for the difficult tricks and air variations he invented for vertical skating and for setting the long-standing record for the highest air achieved on a ...

Work

Martin first became known for his depictions of meticulously rendered landscape paintings informed by semiotics. In a conversation between the artist

Amy Sillman Amy Sillman (born 1955) is a New York-based visual artist, known for process-based paintings that move between abstraction and figuration, and engage nontraditional media including animation, zines and installation.Farago, Jason''The New York T ...

and Martin, Sillman notes that, “It is almost impossible to know whether they are paintings or screen prints, or printed prints, or prints with paintings over them”. Where the image exists, and how it exists, are questions repeatedly asked in Martin’s work. In an essay by the artist Dike Blair on Martin’s work, he describes the relationship to time, and the unfolding events within the image, he writes, “like all of Martin’s, heyare steeped in romanticism; yet just as clearly they are products of an analytic eye and mind, and a trained and restrained hand". In 2014, Martin’s paintings pivoted towards abstraction. Martin's work in abstraction has been cited as painting “committed to the experience of painting, with unorthodox techniques, and mesmerizing surfaces.” Martin's current paintings explore the aesthetic of virtual technologies, drawing comparisons to

Op Art Op art, short for optical art, is a style of visual art that uses distorted or manipulated geometrical patterns, often to create optical illusions. It began in the early 20th century, and was especially popular from the 1960s on, the term "Op ...

, and the light patterns of contemporary electronic devices such as portable screens, tablets, and smart phones.

Exhibition history

In 2004, Martin’s work was exhibited in the

Whitney Biennial The Whitney Biennial is a biennial exhibition of contemporary American art organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. The event began as an annual exhibition in 1932; the first biennial was held in 1973. It is considered ...

. Institutional exhibitions include the

Philbrook Museum of Art Philbrook Museum of Art is an art museum with expansive formal gardens located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The museum, which opened in 1939, is located in a former 1920s villa, "Villa Philbrook", the home of Oklahoma oil pioneer Waite Phillips and his ...

, the

Saint Louis Art Museum The Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM) is an art museum located in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. With paintings, sculptures, cultural objects, and ancient masterpieces from around the world, its three-story building stands in Forest Park in ...

, and most recently in 2017 at the University Art Museum at

SUNY Albany The State University of New York at Albany (University at Albany, UAlbany, or SUNY Albany) is a public research university in Albany, New York, United States. Founded in 1844, it is one of four "university centers" of the State University of N ...

. Martin’s solo show at the University Art Museum in Albany in 2017 exhibited his recent turn towards abstraction.

Collections

Cleveland Museum of Art The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Located in the Wade Park District of University Circle, the museum is internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian art, Asian and Art of anc ...

, Ohio *

Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Art Museum (commonly known as SAM) is an art museum located in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The museum operates three major facilities: its main museum in downtown Seattle; the Seattle Asian Art Museum in ...

, Washington *

Minneapolis Institute of Art The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) is an arts museum located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Home to more than 90,000 works of art representing 5,000 years of world history, Mia is one of the List of largest art museums, largest ar ...

, Minnesota *

, Missouri * U.S. State Department Art Bank Program, Washington DC * The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

Recognition

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

(2010) *Joan Mitchell Foundation Fellowship (2008) *

Pollock-Krasner Foundation The Pollock-Krasner Foundation was established in 1985 for the purpose of providing funding to visual artists internationally to further their artistic practices. It was established at the bequest of Lee Krasner, who was an American abstract expr ...

award (2000) *Artists at Giverny Fellowship and Residency in Giverny, France (2001)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Cameron 1970 births Living people 20th-century American painters Brown University alumni American male painters American postmodern artists Artists from Seattle 21st-century American painters Bard College faculty American contemporary painters American abstract painters Artists from Brooklyn Painters from Washington (state) Painters from New York City 20th-century American male artists