VIRTUAL REALITY

   Martín is a bit like the godfather of the ”Grupo de Tovar“. Apparently a calm man, this popular Venezuelan artist has a lot of temperamento. Especially when he cannot transfer his ideas onto the canvas. He is fascinated by the vastness of the landscape.

Martín’s work is original. His technique and style are self invented and have been perfected over time. His special technique, with its shifting lines and varying colours, enables him to unite two supposed opposites: static landscapes and kinetic art. This combination makes the spectator feel he is entering another world where his bond with nature is reinforced and where he can dream away as in a kind of virtual reality.

Martín says:

”You could see my work as an investigation into the spirit of nature, what means that I am trying to discover her poetry. There where the mountains reveal us their spirit.

The motion of the contrasting lines, the overwhelming silence expressing itself in the silhouetted mountains. The harmony, the emptiness, the breeze and the wind. All of which are metaphors of the silent but massive force of nature.

I think my work represents the internal conflict I have as an artist. Because I try to integrate two opposing principles: a kinetic representation of static

landscapes. To me, painting is not about applying paint to the canvas in order to capture images. Quite the contrary, it is the subtlety and the movement of thin

overlapping lines with their transparent colours like blue, black and red that make the canvas look like floating. It is a kind of virtual reality, in which a bond

between man and nature is created.“

CURRICULUM

Geboren 1951 in Canaguá, Estado Mérida – Venezuela.

STUDIES

1969-70   Taller Regional de Artes Plásticas, INCIBA. Tovar, Edo. Mérida.

1971-74   Diseño Gráfico de Arte Puro, Centro Experimental de Arte. Universidad de los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela.

1979    Taller de Serigrafía, Centro Regional de Artes Gráficas Universidad de San José, Costa Rica.

1983    Foto Mecánica. Civica Scuola de Milán, Italia.

INDIVIDUAL EXHIBITIONS

2002         Razón Constructiva y Razón Orgánica. 1976-2002 Museo                        de Arte de Tovar Mérida – Venezuela.

2001         Galería Blasini Caracas, Venezuela.

1996         ARGO GRAPHIK GALERIE. Viena, Austria.

                  L`Ecole Nationale Supérieure d`Arts et Métiers (VEN ART)                     Paris Francia.

1995        Galería GRAPHIC/CB2. Caracas, Venezuela.

1993        Galería ART NOUVEAU. Maracaibo, Venezuela.

                 GREDIT LYONNAIS. (VEN ART) Paris Francia.

1992        Embajada de Venezuela (VEN ART) Paris Francia.

1990        Centro Venezolano de Cultura. Bogotá, Colombia.

1986        Centro de Bellas Artes. Maracaibo, Venezuela.

COLLECTIVE EXHIBITIONS

2005 Lineart International Art Fair, Gent, België.

2005 Tovar ante todo Arte. Galeria Felix, Caracas.

2004 Tovar, Exposicion colectiva de pintores Venezuelanos, Casa da America Latina, Lisboa, Portugal.

2003        Encuentros ”Museo de Arte Moderno“ Mérida – Venezuela.

2002        ”Tovar ilumina tu Visión“ Hotel Hilton, Caracas

2000        ”Tovar Ante Todo Arte“ Fundación Ruta del Arte Tovar Venezuela.

1999        Arte Venezuela, Galería de los Artistas del Mundo (VEN ART) Paris Francia.

Exposition D`Arte Contemporain Itineraire 99 Paris Francia.

Salón Itineraire, Paris Francia.

Instituto Cervantes, Alejandría, Egipto.

Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Caracas Sofía Imber. Los Pintores de Tovar.

1998      ”Cloitre Des Billetes“ (VEN ART) Paris Francia.

               Los Latinos Main Gallery E.E.U.U.

1997      Lávant Scéne (VEN ART) Revil Malmaison, Paris Francia. 

1996      FIA 96. Galería Graphic/CB2, Caracas, Venezuela.

1995      Grands et Jeunet D` Aujourd` Hui, Espace Eiffel, París Francia.

AWARDS

1998      Menzione Speciale en la XXXIII Edizione Della Giuria Internazionale Venecia – Italia.

1983      Primer Premio Grabado en el IV Salón de Occidente, Mérida, Estado Mérida, Venezuela.

1982      Premio Grabado Consejo Nacional de la Cultura, CONAC I Bienal de Dibujo y Grabado, Galería de Arte Nacional,Caracas, Venezuela.

1982      Primer Premio Fundarte. II Bienal Nacional de Grabado en Miniatura TAGA, Caracas, Venezuela.

1982      Premio Bernardo Rubinstein XL Salón Arturo Michelena, Valencia,  Estado Carabobo, Venezuela.

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