Solo exhibition
Greenberg Van Doren Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of drawings by Cameron Martin, on view from October 6 – November 12, 2005. Cameron Martin: Works on Paper is the artist’s third one-person exhibition at the gallery and is accompanied by a catalogue with a story by Thad Ziolkowski. Martin will have his first solo museum exhibition at the St. Louis Art Museum in 2006. His work was recently featured in exhibitions at the Henry Art Gallery, WA ; Gallery Min Min, Tokyo; and the 2004 Whitney Biennial.
Cameron Martin: Works on Paper will be comprised of 3 dozen works from the last 5 years, including paintings on paper in gouache, oil, and acrylic as well as drawings in graphite and colored pencil. Variously scaled from 8 x 10 inches to almost 48 inches wide, certain drawings relate to the artists oeuvre on canvas as preparatory sketches or studies while others are more finished and autonomous. As in his highly distilled paintings, they present nature as personal and cultural touchstones – depicting trees, branches, mountains and seascapes – metaphorically charged, endowed with beauty and meaning.
When Tomorrow Hits, 2004, and the large-scaled Untitled, 2005, are ‘front’ and ‘back’ representations of Mount St’ Helen’s in Seattle, the artist’s hometown. Martin depicts the active volcano with a sense of foreboding - yet with a sense melancholy presence. In a suite of five Untitled pencil drawings, Martin arrests time and pares down nature, presenting twigs and branches as isolated still life. Always devoid of human presence, his approach to nature and landscape exudes a stillness and quietude that is provocative and unsettling.
Cameron Martin was born 1970 in Seattle, WA, and lives and works in Brooklyn. He studied at Brown University and the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program. He is the recipient of Artist in Giverny Fellowship and Residency and a Pollock-Krasner Grant. His work is in the collections of The Whitney Museum of American Art, NY and The Seattle Art Museum, WA.