Frank Martínez & Enrique Baster

Frank Martínez, Atajo, 2010, acrylic on canvas, 39.7” x 32.6.”

Two Solo Shows at Oñate Fine Art

By Rafael López-Ramos

This Winter, Oñate Fine Art jointly presents two solo exhibitions of Cuban artists José Enrique Baster (Holguín, 1973) and Frank Martínez (Havana, 1972), both graduates of the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana. These exhibitions continue the path on which the gallery has embarked, focused on presenting emerging and mid-career artists to South Florida collectors.

Enrique Baster’s paintings belong to his Autocracy series, and they deal with the issue of urban unease and the dystopian spirit that dominates so many contemporary societies, doing so through a language that seems inspired by the abstract compositional segments of the work of Gustav Klimt, those that usually served as a backdrop to his hedonic figures. The Cuban artist, however, ingrains these geometric elements with a connotative and ambiguous quality. Baster himself defines his expression as “a panoramic representation of a real city, or perhaps mental, bathed in different shades of gray, a value given by time and precariousness, sometimes invaded by small, new and bright color planes very well defined, a story overlapping another, remembrances and memories.” ¹

Baster’s visions resemble those satellite photos that Google Earth slowly displays on our monitor, which goes transiting from colorful abstract compositions into a graphic representation of recognizable urban elements before our eyes as we zoom on the screen. Enrique Baster has taken part in numerous group exhibitions since 1992, including the Primer Salón de Arte Contemporáneo (Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Cuba, 1995). His work has been exhibited in Canada, United States, Puerto Rico, Peru, Brazil, Panama, Spain, and Greece.

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Enrique Baster, From Autocracy series, 2010, oil on canvas, 39.3” x 31.4.”

Frank Martínez’s painting is based on appropriation as a postmodern tool, which is central in all of the works comprising this new series. The direct quotation of important artworks from different moments of recent art history, and their manipulation within a framework of absurd situations creates a perfect setting to promote different interpretations by the viewer, beyond the mere retinian contemplation. The perceptual process of object flows in a similar way as thought builds its models, in order to analyze through the language of art the problems with orientation, in its broadest sense, not only spatial or geographical. His works are based on purely experiential situations, in the aim to analyze reality, by removing and rearranging its structure. The object of art, in this case, stands as mediator between the image and the viewer’s intellect, filling and emptying the linguistic gaps that its decoding might motivate. Frank Martínez’s most recent exhibitions include “Visiones de mi ciudad,” Museo de Arte Colonial, Havana; “Pulse Miami,” Miami, Florida; “Premiados de La Joven Estampa 1987 - 2007,” Museo de la Estampa y el Diseño Carlos Cruz Diez, Caracas, Venezuela; “Arte Cubano Contemporáneo,” Soho Gallery, Mérida, Mexico; and “Flowers, Lies and Revolution: Contemporary Cuban Art,” Sheldon Museum, Nebraska. His works are part of the collection Fundación Antonio Pérez, Cuenca, Spain; Collection Arte de Nuestra América, Casa de las Américas, Havana; and Collection Medaid.org/ART, Austin, Texas. His paintings are also part of private collections in USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Puerto Rico, Japan, Italy, Brazil, Germany, and Spain.

The works of Enrique Baster and Frank Martínez are on view from December 11, 2010 through January 11, 2011. Oñate Fine Art is located at 4385 SW 72nd Ave in Miami Bird Road Art District. Phone: 305 667 6942 / www.onatefineart.com

Notes

^1. Excerpt from Enrique Baster’s statement for Autocracy series.

Rafael López-Ramos is an artist, art critic, and curator based in Miami, Florida.