Jason Martin

Jason Martin is best known for his vigorous monochrome paintings, created by spreading oil or acrylic gel across hard surfaces such as aluminium, steel or perspex in a single movement that is repeated many times. His intense investigation of pigment has produced pulsating sculptural landscapes that blur the distinction between abstraction and figuration. These paintings dazzle in their virtuosity, capable of evoking the rhythmic motion of waves with their rippling crests and troughs, the luscious texture of whipped cream or the sheen of tightly layered plumage. Often monumental and panoramic in scope, they bear the gestural corporality of Jackson Pollock while maintaining the formal rigour of Minimalism. More recently Martin has moved away from the baroque theatricality of his earlier work towards a more nuanced, pared back dynamic that relies on the interplay between control and chance. 

Martin was born in 1970 in Jersey, the Channel Islands and earned a BA from Goldsmiths College in London. Solo exhibitions have included Schauwerk Sindelfingen, Germany (2017); Museum gegenstandsfreier Kunst, Otterndorf, Germany (2016); Palazzo Cavalli Franchetti, Venice, Italy (2013); Le Consortium, Dijon, France (2012); Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy (2009); Es Baluard Museu d'Art Modern i Contemporani de Palma and Majorca, Spain (2008) and Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga, Spain (2005). Martin was a prizewinner in John Moores 21, Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art, UK (1999) and of the Gulf Prize, European Biennial of the Visual Arts, La Spezia, Italy (2000). He lives and works between London and Portugal.

See a selection of available works by the artist here.