Orion Martin

Such eclecticism stymies straightforward analysis of his mises-en-scène, while a fastidious attention to detail and bold embrace of saturated color collectively endow his works with a highly theatrical sensibility. Martin deftly navigates the conceptual space between narrative and nonsense, conflating objects and images to induce a reverie wherein bodies, symbols, mechanisms and spatial environments contrive to transgress the laws of conventional visual logic. In the absence of clear correlations among such disparate imagery, Martin’s enigmatic compositions invite subjective interpretations that amplify the intrigue of his oeuvre.

What is most unnerving and alluring about Martin’s works is their hybrid activation of analog and screen-based sensory paradigms. Illusionistic renderings of real-life imagery overlap with flat planes and floating forms, and visual variables of perspective and scale are manipulated to evoke the distortions of digital image processing. By altering the depth of field with which he depicts each individual element, Martin effectively subverts the high-resolution aesthetics of contemporary digital displays. Precisely executed figures and curvilinear latticed structures contrast with hazy backdrops of indeterminate origin; sensuous surface textures of leather footwear establish a tactile realism incongruous to the illustrative cross-sections that reveal mechanical and biological systems within eerily detached protagonists. Martin also undermines the structural integrity of the artwork’s screenlike presence by incorporating painted rivets, apertures and perforations that punctuate his imagery, further destabilising the picture’s representational function as a static signifier and introducing perceptual possibilities that perpetuate a hypnotic state of suspended disbelief.

Orion Martin was born in 1988 in Sonoma, USA. He currently lives and works in Los Angeles, USA. Recent solo and duo exhibitions include: Derosia, New York, USA; Potts, Los Angeles, USA; Corbett vs Dempsey, Chicago, USA; Favorite Goods, Los Angeles, USA; Important Projects, Oakland, USA. Group exhibitions include: Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, USA; Bel Ami, Los Angeles, USA; Tanya Leighton Gallery, Berlin, Germany; Rob Tufnell Gallery, Cologne, Germany; Galleria Acappella, Napoli, Italy; Galerie Éric Hussenot, Paris, France; BFA Boatos, São Paulo, Brazil.