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
socialclimbing(Staircase), 2023Acrylic medium, pigment, vinyl, 3m reflective fabricSigned and dated verso208.3 x 182.9 cm
82 x 72 inchesB-AMWHITE-.23-0005Austin Martin White's dense and tactile compositions glean from images past to scrutinize the hierarchical structures captured by the Western art historical imagination. In “socialclimbing (Staircase)”, White references the 1793...Austin Martin White's dense and tactile compositions glean from images past to scrutinize the hierarchical structures captured by the Western art historical imagination. In “socialclimbing (Staircase)”, White references the 1793 etching by Scottish painter and caricaturist Isaac Cruikshank titled “The Quality Ladder”. Cruikshank was known for his social and political satire. His drawings offered a vivid insight into the cultural and political preoccupations of the British during the late 18th century. In Cruikshank's etching a group of women are attempting to climb the social ladder, depicted as an upward spiraling staircase which White culls in his work with protruding acrylic medium pigmented in a cascading gradient of reds, oranges, and yellows. A recurring theme in Cruikshank's work was the depiction of gluttony and cannibalism used to represent the exploitation enacted upon people by the British monarchy, during a time of intense economic hardship and violent colonial rule. In the title of his painting, White conflates Cruikshank's use of the word quality with social, emphasizing the structural and systemic mechanisms of power and oppression still evident today. By usurping the colonial image the artist redefines its meaning through abstraction — with his idiosyncratic use of color, material, and innovative technical processes. -
Exhibitions
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Sweet Sixteen
Celebrating 16 years of Capitain Petzel 7 June — 3 August 2024On the occasion of Capitain Petzel’s sixteenth anniversary, the gallery is excited to present Sweet Sixteen , a group exhibition celebrating the artists who have been integral to its program...Explore -
Austin Martin White
Last Dance 16 September — 22 October 2022It’s all too much, really. There are credit cards to pay down, rent to cough up—never mind the wildfires and the mass shootings. A sense of pressure is building, impossible...Explore
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External Exhibitions
Overflow, Afterglow: New York in Chromatic Figuration, 2024
The Jewish Museum, New York
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News
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Press
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Blue Chip: "Familiar Dysphoria" (Austin Martin White)
4 November 2023 -
Texte Zur Kunst: "Mnemosyne in Neon" (Austin Martin White)
Julia Modes, 30 December 2022 -
Artforum: "Austin Martin White"
Martin Herbert, 1 December 2022 -
Flash Art: "Austin Martin White 'Last Dance' Capitain Petzel / Berlin"
Philipp Hindahl, 20 October 2022 -
032c: "SMASHED COLLARBONES: Berlin Art Week 2022" (Austin Martin White)
Claire Koron Elat, 27 September 2022 -
Welt am Sonntag: "Das Beste ihrer Art: Austin Martin White Bei Capitain Petzel"
17 September 2022 -
Observer: Kathia St. Hilaire and Austin Martin White Flourish at Derek Eller Gallery
Teresa Xie , 11 March 2021
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