Robert Martin: Settle Down In A Town Where Nothing Burns
Illustration by Robert Martin
“I use watercolors in a so-called hyper-western palette that gives my paintings a very typical appearance, allowing the narratives to reveal themselves more slowly.
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Carbondale Arts presented "Settle Down In A Town Where Nothing Burns", a solo exhibition by artist Robert Martin, with an opening reception to the public on First Friday, April 5, from 6-8pm at the R2 Gallery inside The Launchpad.
Robert exhibited the transition from his earlier sculptural practice to his current work with painting in a retrospective. His dioramas were carved from a variety of woods using hand and power tools.
After abandoning his sculptural approach, the art-making desire remained. Robert executed quick watercolor paintings with similar themes as his wood carvings. He favored narrative landscapes populated with people caught in transition and flux, or an environment staged with props to infer what may have happened in the particular setting. His paintings generally combined personal history, shared stories, and roadside observations. Robert utilized watercolors in a so-called hyper-western palette that gives his paintings a very typical appearance, allowing the narratives to reveal themselves more slowly.
This exhibition opened the same evening as "National Parks Development", a solo show by Will Gurley.
Robert Martin
Illustrator & Painter, Carbondale, CO
Carbondale-based painter, Robert Martin, has been honing his painting practice while making a living as a welder/metal fabricator and home builder. After a good run of sculpture shows in San Francisco galleries, Robert and his wife relocated to Colorado and started a family. After an idle art-making period, he started painting and was honored to be accepted into the Drawing Center’s Viewing Program with his early output. In addition to painting, Robert has a passion for furniture design and is working through prototypes of what he hopes will be the perfect picnic table.