Cameron Martin (born 1970) is an American

contemporary artist Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic co ...

. Martin is Co-Chair of the Painting Department at the Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts at

Bard College Bard College is a private liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains, and is within the Hudson River Historic District—a National Historic Landmark. Founded in 18 ...

. He lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

Early life and education

Cameron Martin was born in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, Washington, in 1970. He received a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four ye ...

in Art and Semiotics from Brown University 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 one of the most influential skaters in the history of the sport, being credited ...

, and Steve Caballero.

Work

Cameron Martin first became known for his depictions of meticulously rendered landscape paintings informed by semiotics. In a conversation between the artist Amy Sillman 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 optical illusions. Op artworks are abstract, with many better-known pieces created in black and white. Typically, they give the viewer the impression of movement, hidden images, ...

, 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, typically by young and lesser known artists, on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, United States. The event began as an annual exhibition ...

. 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 w ...

, the

Saint Louis Art Museum The Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM) is one of the principal U.S. art museums, with paintings, sculptures, cultural objects, and ancient masterpieces from all corners of the world. Its three-story building stands in Forest Park in St. Louis, ...

, and most recently in 2017 at the University Art Museum at SUNY Albany. 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, located in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on the city's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egypt ...

, Ohio *

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

, 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 largest art museums in the United Stat ...

, Minnesota *

, Missouri *

U.S. State Department Art Bank Program The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, Washington DC * The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

Recognition

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

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

Pollock-Krasner Foundation The Pollock-Krasner Foundation was established in 1985 for the purpose of providing financial assistance to individual working artists of established ability. It was established at the bequest of Lee Krasner, who was an American abstract expression ...

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 Postmodern artists Artists from Seattle 21st-century American painters Bard College faculty American contemporary painters Abstract painters American abstract artists Artists from Brooklyn Painters from Washington (state) Painters from New York City 20th-century American male artists