Danae (Homage to Titian) | Palladium and gold leaf and acrylic on linen | 80" x 65" | 2012

September 13 – October 26, 2013
Lecture by artist, Saturday, October 5, 3:00 pm
Reception, Saturday, October 5, 5:00 pm

LGTripp Gallery is pleased to announce She, a solo exhibition of recent works by internationally acclaimed artist Knox Martin. The exhibition will include paintings from Martinʼs celebrated She series, as well as the unveiling of a new painting, Genesis. This is to be the first showing of Martinʼs paintings since joining the Gallery earlier this year.

A leading member of the New York School, Knox Martin is a contemporary of artists Alfred Leslie, Alex Katz, Al Held, and was a mentor to Robert Rauschenberg. Although connected to the avant-garde of this pivotal time in American Art, Martin continues to transcend labels and develop his artwork in distinct and masterful ways. Arthur C. Danto writes, “the images have gotten richer and the philosophy of painting deeper, and the experience of constituting the works through close visual reading is as rewarding as contemporary art provides.”

She includes seven paintings revolving around Martinʼs long-held interest in the female form. With his use of metaphor, Martinʼs paintings point to something more mysterious and transcendent. Sinuous contours and vibrant shapes move across the flat picture plane hinting to the feminine. In Martinʼs She paintings there is no ground as the “she” is all encompassing, the very composition of each painting. In his essay for She, William Fried writes, “Parts of her body move to intercept our gaze when we try to look beyond her. We cannot look beyond her just as the artist cannot free himself of her power in his mind.” The female form is therefore simultaneously treated as Martinʼs subject and object. For Martin, as with many artists before him, his “she” is an archetype, a muse to be explored and celebrated.

Knox Martin is a renowned New York painter, sculptor, muralist, poet, and a scholar of art history who has exhibited worldwide. Using a variety of media, Martin is known for his use of vibrant colors, sensuous gestures, rhyming of metaphor and the flat picture plane. Two of his most famous works are the monolithic 12-story wall painting titled Venus and the 6-story wall painting Woman with Bicycle, both in New York City. Knox Martin’s artwork is included in collections worldwide, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, Museum of Modern Art, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Brooklyn Museum of Art and the National Academy of Design among others. Dedicated to his art practice as well as teaching, Knox has held faculty positions at Yale Graduate School of the Arts, New York University, the University of Minnesota, and the International School of Art in Umbria, Italy. Martin continues to teach Master Classes at the Art Students League of New York. Throughout his career, Martin has been the subject of numerous articles, books, essays and writings.

©KNOX MARTIN/LICENSED BY VAGA, NEW YORK, NY.

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