Location – Sarabande Foundation by Lee Alexander McQueen
Date – 25th of July – 29th of July
Koby Martin is a proud export of Ghana. His penchant for mark making was nurtured throughout his childhood and over time has undergone a process of transmogrification between his experiences in Ghana and arrival in the United Kingdom. These territories merge together in Martin’s practice. The vantage points serve as a consistent motif within the narrative of his works. Autobiographical elements materialize, perhaps subconsciously, whilst Martin riffs upon notions of melancholy, diaspora, space, time and perspectives.
‘Drunk Minds Speak Of Sober Times’ is a peregrination of liminal spaces. Martin explores these spaces through the use of windows. The windows in these pieces create a threshold between the viewer and focal point, the uncertainty of the unknown, where public and private coalesce. He invites the viewer to embrace their voyeuristic or Jungian (shadow side) tendencies whilst using the works as a substrate or vehicle for broadening perspectives.
Martin traverse’s works such as Frank Bowling’s ‘The Mother’s House’, Felix Vallotton’s ‘The White And The Black’ and David Hockney’s ‘Pool With Two Figures’. Perusing the pieces beyond their figurative or abstract language, he eschews artistic and psycho analytical reasoning within the dialogues, instead, relying on his instinctive and reactive tendencies. Martin uses reference points as a conduit to embellish upon past conversations. Homing in upon the edges and fractures of these ideas beyond homage or delineation. The voids, negative spaces and characters within Martin’s works serve as an opening for evoking conversation. Through the détournement of art historical tropes, contorting notions of identity, origin and territory, Martin unearths lost narratives to create compelling works.
Contact Info:
Email : kobymartin6@gmail.com
Mobile : 07428276659
Website : kobmart.co.uk
