Patrick Martinez
American, born 1980
Since the vivid days of Patrick's childhood he was always drawing or scribbling on something. In his teenage years circa early 90's, he was introduced to Hip Hop culture and exclusively to one of its elements, graffiti. Graffiti remains an influence in his work. Hip Hop has influenced his art ever since he understood what it was about, movies like "Wild Style" and "Style Wars" turned him onto the Hip Hop movement in his earlier days. In 1994 he attended Pasadena High School Visual Arts and Design Academy where he learned and practiced his image making skills.
Patrick graduated high school and moved on to Pasadena City College. Patrick spent three years at PCC experimenting, developing his artistic skills and trying to find a hint of himself at the same time. He kept a steady career doing illustrations and design work mainly for underground and mainstream record labels that catered to the Hip Hop community. In 2001 he was ready to take on the next stage of art discipline. This led him to apply to Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, where he received a bachelor of fine arts.
Patrick focuses on the phenomenology of his surroundings. He brings sublime beauty to things that aren't thought of as conventionally beautiful. He uses subject matter such as everyday people that aren't usually painted into the limelight and elements of the city that would be thought of as objects we take for granted. He uses these objects as communicative mediums. Patrick works with intellect and intuition in creating pieces of art that reflect and document situations that are ever present around him. Vitality and rhythm are the essence and energy in his artwork.
- From www.patrickmartinez.com, accessed June 2017
Alternate bio:
Born and raised in the San Gabriel Valley, Patrick Martinez’s L.A. suburban upbringing and his diverse cultural background (Filipino, Mexican and Native American), provided him with a unique lens through which he interprets his surroundings. Influenced by the Hip Hop movement, Martinez cultivated his art practice through graffiti, which later led him to the Art Center College of Design, where he earned a BFA with honors in 2005. Through his facility with a wide variety of media (painting, neon, ceramic and sculpture), Martinez colorfully scrutinizes otherwise everyday realities of suburban and urban life in L.A. with humor, sensitivity and wit.
Patrick Martinez, (b. 1980 Pasadena, CA) earned his BFA with honors from Art Center College of Design in 2005. His work has been exhibited domestically and internationally in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Miami, New York and the Netherlands, and he has shown in venues including the Vincent Price Art Museum, Biola University, LA Louver, Showroom MAMA, Providence College Galleries, MACLA, SUR biennial, Chinese American Museum and Euphrat Museum of Art. He has been covered by the Los Angeles Times, KPCC, KCRW, Fusion, Art News, Opening Ceremony Art Blog and Wired. He has work in the collections of the Cornell Fine Art Museum and the Museum of Latin American Art. Patrick lives and works in Los Angeles.
- From www.cjamesgallery.com, accessed June 2017
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