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Eddie Martinez, Bufly No. 8 (Mello Yello), 2022, acrylic and spray paint on canvas, 72 x 60 in. Courtesy the artist
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Eddie Martinez, Bufly No. 7, 2022, oil, acrylic and spray paint on canvas, 96 x 75 in. Courtesy the artist and Mitchell-Innes & Nash, NY
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Eddie Martinez, Bufly No. 14 (Hot red), 2022, oil, acrylic, silkscreen and spray paint on canvas, 72 x 60 in. Courtesy the artist and Capitain Petzel, Berlin
Celebrated for his bright, bold, and colorful paintings, Eddie Martinez will present a new body of work made specifically for the Parrish. Taking full advantage of the Museum’s expansive space and high ceilings, Martinez is creating seven 12-foot tall Buflies paintings with corresponding monotypes produced at legendary fine art print publisher ULAE (Universal Limited Art Editions). The artist started the Buflies series in 2021 when his son Arthur was a baby and became fascinated with butterflies, mispronouncing them as “buflies.” Martinez has been painting them ever since.
Typically beginning with spray paint to create an outline, Martinez then layers oil and acrylic paints to bring each Bufly to life, injecting an abundance of texture and color to his canvases. Each painting reflects the joy and brightness that pervades Martinez’s practice, and is made surprisingly intimate by the artist, where viewers are reminded of the physical demands of such large-scale works, with some of the canvases even featuring traces of the artist’s shoeprint.
Martinez spent his adolescent years making graffiti, and now creates paintings on canvas that retain the rough, expressionistic lines and bold colors of street art. Working between representation and abstraction, he uses oil, enamel, and spray paint and often incorporates found objects, in a fast-paced practice that could be compared to automatism. Noted for his deft draftsmanship, Martinez produces large-scale works that maintain the feeling of drawings. His most apparent visual references are the CoBrA group and Abstract Expressionism; Barry McGee has also been an important figure for him. In addition to paintings, Martinez produces found-object sculptures and works on paper.
Eddie Martinez is organized by Corinne Erni, Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Chief Curator, Art and Education, with additional support from Kaitlin Halloran, Assistant Curator and Publications Coordinator.
About Eddie Martinez
Eddie Martinez’s (American, b. 1977) recent solo museum exhibitions include the Yuz Museum, Shanghai, (2019-2020); Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, Michigan (2019); The Bronx Museum, New York (2018); The Drawing Center, New York (2017); and The Davis Museum at Wellesley College, MA (2017). He has also had solo exhibitions at Capitain Petzel, Berlin (2023); Blum & Poe, Los Angeles (2022); Loyal Gallery, Stockholm (2021); Perrotin, Hong Kong (2019); Sorry We’re Closed, Brussels (2016); Timothy Taylor Gallery, London (2014); Galerie Mikael Andersen, Copenhagen (2009); Galeria Commercial, San Juan (2007); and Bucket Rider, Chicago (2005). Martinez’s work has been featured in Modern Painters, ARTINFO, The New York Times, ArtReview, The Brooklyn Rail, and Art in America. His work is included in many institutional collections such as National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA; Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, TX; Aurora Museum, Shanghai, China; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain and National Gallery Australia, Sydney.
