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Julian Martin

B 1969 (MELBOURNE)

THE PASTEL PRACTICE OF AUSTRALIAN MAKER JULIAN MARTIN REVEALS A RARE ABILITY TO DISTIL THE WORLD INTO A BALANCE OF COLOUR, SHAPE AND TONE. MARTIN HAS REFINED HIS IDIOSYNCRATIC STYLE OVER THE PAST 30 YEARS, WORKING FROM THE RENOWNED STUDIO AND EXHIBITION PROGRAMS FOR ARTISTS WITH DISABILITIES, ARTS PROJECTS AUSTRALIA. 

EARLY EXPERIMENTS WITH PAINTING SOON YIELDED TO MARTIN’S TRADEMARK MEDIUM OF PASTEL AND AN INTENSE EXPLORATION OF THE SPACE BETWEEN REPRESENTATION AND ABSTRACTION. THE ARTIST’S OWN REFLECTION, PHOTOGRAPHS AND QUOTIDIAN OBJECT ARE CONTINUOUSLY REINTERPRETED AND SUBLIMATED INTO ESSENTIAL FORMS, FLOATING ON INTENSELY COLOURED GROUNDS, EVER REOCCURRING YET ALWAYS CHANGING.

SHOWING AN UNCANNY ABILITY TO FIND THE UNIVERSAL IN THE COMMONPLACE, MARTIN’S OEUVRE IS WITNESS TO A STEADY AND UNRELENTING TRAJECTORY TOWARDS TOTAL ABSTRACTION. YET, THE UNCOMPROMISING TWO-DIMENSIONALITY OF THE PURE FORM FINDS ITS PRESENCE IN THE PHYSICAL REALM, THE DENSELY PIGMENTED SHEETS OF COLOUR GENTLY SCARRED WITH ETCHING IMPLEMENTS, BEARING THE SIGN OF THE ARTISTS INTENSE ENGAGEMENT WITH THE MEDIUM FOR HOURS AT A TIME.

The Deep, The Gallery of Everything (London) 2020
Julian Martin Solo, No Vacancy Project Space (Melbourne) 2015
Julian Martin: Transformer, Arts Project Australia Gallery (Melbourne) 2014
Julian Martin New Work, Kitty Somerset (Northcote) 2011
Draw, Manningham Gallery (Melbourne) 2009
Julian Martin Recent Works, Arts Project Australia Gallery (Melbourne) 2006
New Works, Arts Project Australia Gallery (Melbourne) 2003
Sempiternal Variations, Arts Project Australia Gallery (Melbourne) 2001
Pastel Drawings, Australian Galleries (Collingwood) 1995

2014 Daye, Cheryl, and Baker, Alex. Julian Martin: Transformer. Arts Project Australia (2014) (exh. cat.) 2013
Baker, Alex. Outsiderism. Fleisher/Ollman, Philadelphia (2013) (exh. cat.) [ill.]