Opened: June 2021
Jel Martinez (b. 1976) is a Cuban American artist whose paintings are inspired by the methodology of vandalism removal. Martinez’s background in graffiti, as an original member of the Ink Heads Crew, is seen in each of his studio pieces which depict how metropolitan clean-up crews destroy one art form while creating another. Martinez’s paintings are a recreation of multilayered walls that are seen in urban landscape. His painterly gestures incorporate concrete elements, acrylic, enamel, oil, compound and ink, creating overlapping styles of free-floating patches of color. Through his elaborate process of building up and tearing down art, Martinez’s paintings boldly invite the viewer to experience the daily conversations the urban environment carries on with its inhabitants. Martinez has shown around the country in major metropolitan cities such as Pheonix, AZ, Los Angeles, CA, New York, NY, and his hometown of Miami where he has participated in the largest of art fairs such as Untitled and Scope.