Cesar Martinez
Artist Statement
“The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”
It was this book ending quote, from George Orwell’s 1945 piece titled, “Animal Farm”, that sparked the inspiration to develop and use what can now be seen as the “pig” character throughout the show. Using this character, Martinez is able to speak on various topics and subjects while maintaining the symbols’ powerful meaning and shining through in each piece. Through using this almost “cartoonish” character, Martinez is able to invite the viewer to not be fearful of the painting and to be able to spend time with it, in before they find themselves trapped with something so confrontational, so real, that they are not able to look away, and when they do, the image, and it’s very real meaning, sticks with them, for days and days to come.
Where one person may see a funny character struggling to hold up a table of which these comical pigs sit on. Another may see their father, beat down and bruised, lungs full of pesticides, working 12 hours a day, to barely scrape up enough for necessities in the name of “The American Dream”. Meanwhile the bigwigs sit at their tables and scoff at the idea of stepping foot outside in 105 heat for even but a second. Where one person may see a cool depiction of the U.S. dollar, another may be persuaded to think how and why that dollar has been able to be belittled and made to be worth close to nothing seemingly overnight.
Because you may think one or the other of these things, does not mean you are right, and it does not mean that you are wrong. I, as the artist, make my art with the intention of uniting a person who knows every detail and every turning point in art history, and another who is visiting a gallery for the very first time, in a conversation in which they can both gain knowledge and perspective. I encourage you, the viewer, to insight this conversation with the person next to you, whoever they may be. If there’s nothing in common between the two, let the art be what units, and you’ll find there much more in common, then you could have imagined. Afterall, we are all animals, in one big farm.
Artist Bio
My art journey began not long ago, in late 2019. Pablo Picasso’s “Guernica” was the piece that inspired me to start creating art, but it was because of Picassos quote “learn the rules like a pro, so that you can break them like an artist” that inspired me to teach myself anatomy. I relentlessly worked at my figure drawing for about a year. It was around that time when I saw a painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat which inspired me to make the change to painting. I have now been painting for about a year, and have developed my style through the likeness of Picasso, Basquiat, Warhol, Schiele, and Twombly. In each and every artwork, I draw from personal life experiences to convey my message in a very sentimental and personal way.
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