Chris Martin (b. 1954, Washington, D.C.) attended Yale University from 1972-1975 and in 1992 received his Bachelor of Fine Art, Certificate of Art Therapy from the School of Visual Arts, New York.
His paintings are tactile and stitched together, combining found objects and collage into their abstract geometries and rhythmic patterns. Although his works are abstract, Martin’s paintings are a direct response to the physical world around him, often times using objects from his immediate environment – kitchen utensils, records, photographs, and Persian carpets. He is interested the differences between city and country vernacular and outsider art, and he chooses to explore his creativity across a multitude of mediums rather than adhering to a singular, distinctive style and platform. He is also influenced by his work as an art therapist for adults, fascinated by the fearless, direct, and honest nature of the works his patients produced despite their lack of formal training.
Martin’s works have been exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum (New York), P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center (New York), and the Saatchi Gallery (London), among others. His paintings are included in the permanent collections of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery (Buffalo, New York), the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; High Museum of Art (Atlanta), Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (Rotterdam, the Netherlands), and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, among other museums. Martin lives and works in New York City.
RxART and Chris Martin have worked together on projects at New York City’s Gouverneur Hospital in 2009 and Metropolitan Hospital in 2013. Martin also created works for RxART Coloring Book: Between the Lines Vol. 6 and Vol. 4.