11/09/2023
“I’ve got an idea,” was something my father used to say regularly to me with varying degrees of insanity. If it was about business I would prepare myself to be skeptical. But if it was an idea for his art I’d feel curious and excited, and one day in 2016 he came to me with an idea for a new series of work. Marty was feeling inspired by his time as a student at the School of Visual Arts in NYC. Color field paintings were all the rage in 1967, and he recounted his hours in the studio, clad in old unwashed overalls, stretching giant canvases, playing with new bright chromatic pigments, using oral atomizers, and enthusiastically experimenting with all the newest techniques. His idea for the “Tension” series was about the relationship between hard-edged shapes and the world that exists in the space between them. The polarity between positive and negative would create an almost physical pull for the viewer. Importantly, Marty would embrace his chosen medium by gilding the shapes onto canvas, allowing the natural elements and beauty in the leaf to contrast the solid bold colors of the background. The momentum behind the new work was intense, and seeing my father filled with joy when he returned to the studio with a new color he had procured inspired a feeling that took me back to my childhood -- one filled with wonder and shared excitement. The layout process was like driving a racecar, pushing objects to limits of near destruction, creating speed, adrenaline and drama.
The completed works fully celebrate Marty’s unparalleled mastery of gilding. Even to the trained eye, his skill is nearly beyond comprehension. The organic beauty of the leaf initiates a new and vivid conversation with the brilliant red, blue, purple and pink color fields. The tension on the canvas is so very real. This change in direction from his sculptural work was too harsh for his gallery to back. This pivot in his work to “painting” didn’t seem to fit the current narrative. As a result the six pieces that make up the series were never shown to the public, only to friends and fellow artists. To celebrate his 74th birthday on November 9th I’ve decided to display them together for the first time. As we remember such a giant in the art world here in Santa Fe and beyond, I’m happy to take a moment to reflect on the finite and tangible. The Tension Series represents a beautiful road that Marty traveled in a life of creating art. Just as he was inspired by a memory of making art five decades earlier, we still can be inspired and surprised by his endless creativity, and awed by his always expanding ability. Please join us this Thursday at Goldleaf Gallery from 6-8pm to raise a glass and toast the man who will forever be missed. There will of course be Kettle One and Kosher Hotdogs to celebrate.
Happy Birthday Dad.
Forever here to honor your love,
David
