Austin Martin White
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Biography
Born 1984 in Detroit, MI, USA
Lives and works in Philadelphia, PA, USA
Austin Martin White‘s artistic practice explores images that shape our historical memory, drawing on archival research that addresses issues of identity, race and postcolonialism. White received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Cooper Union and holds a Master of Fine Arts in painting from The Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts at Bard College.
Using acrylic, spray-paint, vinyl, 3m reflective fabric and screen mesh mediums, the artist has developed a unique approach that combines paintings and works on paper with printmaking techniques, intertwining his themes with the historical conditions of the materials themselves. The play of references permeating throughout his work operates like active traces that continuously recur in the past and influence the present. The artist explores and reworks images that shape our historical memory, drawing on archival research of 17th and 18th century image production through mediums such as prints, tapestries, and paintings.
Austin Martin White's works were on view in the group show Overflow, Afterglow New Work in Chromatic Figuration at the Jewish Museum, New York in 2024. The artist held his first solo show at Capitain Petzel, Berlin in 2022, followed by a solo exhibition at Petzel Gallery, New York in 2023. He has also exhibited at Derek Eller Gallery, New York in 2023 and 2021 alongside artist Kathia St. Hilaire, as well as at T293, Rome and at Y2K, New York. His work is part of the permanent collection of The Marieluise Hessel Foundation, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson.
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Works
Austin Martin White
Blood moon, 2020Jute, rubber, pigment, vinyl and screen mesh134.5 x 134.5 cm
53 x 53 inchesB-AMWHITE-.22-0009'Blood Moon' is the first work that Austin Martin White created in a series of paintings about the death of James Cook: “When I initially started to work on the..."Blood Moon" is the first work that Austin Martin White created in a series of paintings about the death of James Cook: “When I initially started to work on the drawings for these paintings in the summer of 2020, I was consumed by the absurdity of Space X’s first manned shuttle launch which just happened to coincide with the George Floyd protests and a global COVID19 Pandemic. I brought this sentiment along with me when I visited the Metropolitan Museum’s online etching archive to research references for drawing. I was searching for an instance that occurred during the colonial period representing a regression in pursuit of the ideals of progress and pertaining to the Enlightenment and colonialism. What I discovered was the 1785 etching “The Death of Captain Cook” by Francesco Bartolozzi, which depicts a battle scene set on the shores of Hawaii. At the etching’s center is the moment right before the British explorer captain James Cook is killed by the Kanaka Maoli people.
Mark Twain is quoted as saying, “History doesn‘t repeat itself, but It often rhymes”. When looking through hundreds of images in art historical archives, one is struck by how true this phrase rings. Cook’s demise may not be repeated in future exploration of space, but I certainly anticipate it rhyming.”ExhibitionsExternal ExhibitionsNewsPress