Shantell Martin

    Shantell Martin is a New York-based artist who was born in Thamesmead, a quiet area of London. Growing up in a big family, Martin attended the Camberwell College of Arts and then Central St. Martins, where she studied graphic design. After her graduation in 2003, Martin moved to Japan. She spent five years there teaching English and doing performance drawings as a VJ during DJ sets. In 2009, Martin moved to New York, where she had difficulty carving out her place in the art world. Through persistence, Martin started showing her work, going on to eventually have a three-month residency at Manhattan’s 92Y as their first visual artist.

    In Martin’s murals, the ideas of intersectionality, identity, and play are recurring themes. Breaking this down even further, Martin’s work is about the relationship between the artist and the person who views her art. This is not surprising, considering her view on inclusivity in art. Martin enjoys working with different kinds of artists and performers, saying that collaboration is her “philosophy.”

    Martin has shown as various locations, including solo work at the Albright Knox gallery, the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA), and the 2018 New York City Ballet’s Art Series. During her two-year tenure as a Media Lab Visiting Scholar at MIT, Martin worked with a social computing group, using drawing as a medium “to explore the interaction of social processes with physical spaces.” At the Brown Institute for Media Innovation, Martin did a similar exercise with students.

    Martin has also had numerous brand collaborations, including those with Nike, Vitra, Max Mara, Tiffany & Co., and Puma. She has also worked with celebrities like Kendrick Lamar and Kelly Wearstler. Martin currently teaches as an adjunct professor at NYU Tisch Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP).

    Written by Amelia Nixon

    Sources: https://shantellmartin.art/, https://news.artnet.com/art-world/shantell-martin-1398100, https://hyperallergic.com/478496/new-york-city-ballet-art-series-shantell-martin/, https://thefemalegaze.org/2017/12/07/profiles-in-art-shantell-martin/

    Image Source (Top): - The Female Gaze -

    2018

    Open Your Door

    On the façade of the nightclub Que Sera, the mural “Open Your Door” reaches from wall to wall, covering even the building’s doors. POW! WOW! Long Beach commissioned artist Shantell Martin to paint the mural for their summer 2018 festival. “Open Your Door” is easily visible from either side of E 7th St, and visitors may want to view the mural from a distance as well as up-close to see smaller details. Please be advised that cars travel at higher speeds along this street. Although the pattern of “Open Your Door” is deceptively simple, visitors discover more and more details viewing the mural. Words make up a significant part of Martin’s artwork, and in this mural there appear words including “life,” “music,” “don’t hide,” and “be more.” One also sees faces formed from the white lines, as well as stick figures. Martin says that the stick figures in her art symbolize how “we can all participate in art.” Martin created “Open Your Door” with only two colors, black and white. She started with a solid black background and used white spray paint to add lines, shapes, and words to the mural. Many of the muralists for POW! WOW! Long Beach used a crane to reach the higher portions of their murals, but at the beginning of the day, Martin’s crane did not work. Despite this setback, Martin only needed approximately two hours to complete “Open Your Door.” The owner of Que Sera was there to witness Martin paint the mural, and upon its completion hugged the artist and offered her thanks. Martin says of the short time it took her to complete “Open Your Door,” “…it’s about movement, it’s about being fluid, it’s about getting it out as quick and as honest as possible, which I enjoy.” Written by Amelia Nixon

    Source: https://streetiam.com/shantell-martin-art-que-sera-pow-wow/

    Related Locations

    +