DONALD MARTINY
Art and spirituality have always been intimately connected, not only in the way they address the nature of our existence, but also because of their ability to register deep within us. Together they viscerally connect us to an inner feeling, spirit, or vital essence.
This work strives for what Kandinsky described as the “vibration of the human soul.”
Working on the floor, I move physically inside, around, and through the varied components of my compositions within the paint, pushing the viscus color across surfaces with my hands, arms, and body. The work is figurative in the sense that dynamic gestures relate to the human form in landscape. Shaped paintings have typically been made through an additive process, by applying paint to predetermined shapes. My work challenges that notion. My gestures and completed compositions gain their power through a hybrid subtractive process that determines the final profile of the work. From a formal perspective, my process forces us to question established definitions that define our fundamental understanding of painting.
My art exists somewhere between painting and sculpture. We are confronted with a singular brushstroke, a huge, a seemingly spontaneous, lavish eruption of color and texture on the wall.
Donald Martiny (b. 1953, Schenectady, NY) studied at the School of the Visual Arts, The Art Students League in New York, New York University, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally at such museums and institutions as Palazzo Bembo in partnership with the European Cultural Center Italy, Venice, Italy; Scala Contarini del Bovolo, Venice, Italy; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC; Casa Del Mantegna Museum, Mantua, Italy; Cameron Art Museum, Wilmington, NC; Falmouth Art Museum, Cornwall, UK; Alden B. Dow Museum, Midland, MI; East Wing Biennial, The Courtauld Institute of Art, London, UK; Contemporary Art Museum Raleigh, Raleigh, NC; Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN; International Biennial of Non-Objective Art, Pont de Claix, France; among many other venues. His work is in the permanent collections of Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ; Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA; Newcomb Art Museum, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA; FWMoA, Fort Wayne, IN; Lamborghini Museum, Bologna, Italy.
In 2015 Martiny received a commission from the Durst Organization to create two monumental paintings that are permanently installed in the lobby of One World Trade Center in New York City. That same year he also received the Sam & Adele Golden Foundation for the Arts Residency Grant.
