Triad - 1962 Martin favored material over concept and sensory quality over idea . He used light and color to elicit an emotional response from the viewer. Color associations are sometimes detectable through Martin’s evocative titles; the three-toned composition of Triad, however, is a response to the shimmering shift in color from the green windblown leaves at the top to the darker roots of the Metrical Bush. Duo #1 - 1964 Martin's early dual-color panels reconcile the stringent subtractions of Minimalism with his more or less expressive impulses as a painter. The less than subtle lack of ridges in the viscous material inflect each panel’s uniform colors and opacity with impressions of the painter’s working process. This artist’s anachronistic tendency toward the lyrical, is what distinguishes his work from that of many of his Minimalist contemporaries.
Duo #2 - 1965 Both as a representation and a re-presentation, Duo #2 - 1965 raises provocative questions about the nature of art in a minimalist age. The re-presentation of Duo seems like an entirely different work. The tension appears fresh yet vaguely disorienting. Is this because our rememberance of the original Duo places authenticity under suspicion? In Martin we find that it is the boldness of color and orientation that evoke the simultaneity of flatness and depth.
Duo #3 - 1967 Can the pre separation anxiety be resolved only with a Rothko?
Progression - 1966 |