Shantell Martin: Meet the Artist (March 13, 2017)

Martin sees the act of drawing as essential to our creative nature. She recognizes the notion that many cultures, including our own, perpetuate a myth which presents artists as rarified geniuses and creative masters crafting works of precision well beyond common capacity, but counters this claim by openly revealing the simplicity with which she operates, encouraging others to drop their guard and express themselves. This event was FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, no registration required.

Martin’s first solo exhibition, “Shantell Martin: Someday We Can,” opened Saturday March 11 at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and will be availalble through Sunday June 25.

Martin’s CAI residency will involve the execution of a mural on Buffalo’s East Side, in connection with the Albright-Knox Public Art Initiative’s Mural Program. Exhibiting Martin’s works in the Museum and simultaneously executing a permanent outdoor public mural is intended to make a public statement that beautiful and inspiring creative work does not strictly belong hanging on walls in marble buildings or behind glass but belongs to communities and should be present in all neighborhoods.

Martin’s work can be described as a “meditation of lines; a language of characters, creatures and messages that invite viewers to share a role in her creative process.” She is a former visiting scholar at MIT Media Lab and an adjunct professor at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Martin has been featured on the Jimmy Kimmel Show, and her hand-illustrated bedroom walls graced the cover of The New York Times home section in May 2012. Her work has appeared in Creative Review Magazine, and she was named French Glamour’s “coolest it girl” of New York in 2011.