Just Steps S’ways
Sam Martineau
Opening reception: Sunday March 29, 6 – 8 PM
March 29 – May 3, 2015
For immediate release
Rawson Projects is very excited to announce its third exhibition with Sam Martineau, Just Steps S’ways, an exhibition new work at the gallery’s location in the LES.
Martineau’s last exhibition with the gallery in Greenpoint, Fair Touching, traveled to the
Columbus College of Art and Design and was the subject of the gallery’s first catalogue on the artist’s work.
An interview between the artists and the gallery follows:
Rawson Projects: In our last interview, we discussed a lot about your practice in the studio and the repetition of the size of the canvases and certain motifs. What would you say differs from this exhibition to the last? Are there new motifs or elements that you have had a particular interest in recently?
Sam Martineau: In a sense it’s simply a continuation of making paintings. There is a similar language used in the works from the last exhibition however, naturally new approaches come about.
In the new body of work, I believe there is a greater attention to light, line, and form meeting surface variation. There is even some painting from observation in the mix. As slow of a process as it may be, all of the paintings derive from drawings and collages, and then I seek their proper ground / surface to become a painting.
In regards to new motifs… Repetition of diagonals, using signature and time to divide the rectangle.
RP: You mention that there is a greater attention to light and form and painting from observation. I think that’s significant because I have always thought of your work as compositions of various elements within your standard sized canvas. What works do you think highlight these practices? Specifically with regards to painting from observation, was that something you had been thinking about for some time or did it happen spontaneously?
SM: Working within the same format, a standard size, the restriction invites variation. At this point the format acts as a recording for different methods of painting.
Recently what I have found to be most significant is the idea or act of absorption and the way it reveals a time, place, and experience– to take in and notice the particulars of a light, color or form, and, later, drawing from these very specific notations. The paintings Bridge Triple and Sea would best reflect this idea of including external or natural elements.
At the same time, the works which actually include painting from observation are an extension of collage (Topic Cafe,February, and On The Wall). Allowing detailed painting of particular scraps of fabric, cut shapes of paper, these things are pinned to the studio wall to become fragments of the composition. In a way, it is all the same– a process of selection, yet I feel working in this manner has broadened my correspondence with painting.
RP: This idea of absorption immediately brought me to the titles of the works. I think with this group in particular, but with all of your work, the titles are important to this idea of experience in the paintings. Do you agree? Do you have an idea of a title before you start the painting or does it come to you after?
SM: Yes, I would agree with that in the way a title can establish an entry point or create associations with the work.
As to what comes first, there are some dedicated pages in the sketchbook for future titles of paintings, and, with other paintings, it seems we meet half-way, channeling what’s going on during the course of its making. Something comes about… words, their sounds, vision, it’s a bit of a game.
Sam Martineau was born in 1973 in Springfield, Ohio. He lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. Selected one-person exhibitions include Fair Touching, Rawson Projects, Brooklyn, New York; Radio 9, Arts Collinwood, Cleveland, OH 2012;Fingers in the Sun, Rawson Projects, Brooklyn, New York 2010; Paintings/Collages, StudioMiko, Brooklyn, New York 2009; Slip Down Easy, Brooklyn Fireproof, Brooklyn, New York 2005. Selected group shows include People Who Work Here, David Zwirner, New York; Reductive, Jeffrey Leder Gallery, Long Island City, New York, 2012; A Lettuce Slaughter In The Woods, Real Fine Arts, Brooklyn, New York 2010; Outside The Time Zone, Camel Art Space, Brooklyn, New York 2009; Solid Green, David Krut Projects, New York; New York, New York’s Finest, Canada, New York, New York 2005.
For more information please contact the gallery at info@rawsonprojects.com or call 212 256 0379
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