home      about      artists     exhibitions      press      contact      purchase

 WILL MARTYR

http://filmatography.com/commercial/will-martyr-private-eyes/
Will Martyr – Private Eyes

Filmatography was delighted to produce this promotional film for Will Martyr’s upcoming exhibition of new works at The Hayhill Gallery (24th Sept – 20th Oct 2012), the British artist’s first solo show with gallery.

‘Private Eyes’ presents a series of new canvases illustrating Martyr’s playful and sensual portrayal of objects and locations. Meticulously executed and vibrant in colour (defining characteristics of the artist’s work), their language is one of obsession with the seductive illusions of luck and fortune.

Martyr’s paintings dramatize utopian modernist structures. Presented in a vignetted world, they give an appearance of being distanced in time.  The initial impression is a sense of nostalgia and aspiration, however Martyr’s translation of these images point to a respect for the ‘Modernist Mantra’ of human emancipation and the enrichment of daily life.

Within Martyr’s narrative of architecture and epic landscapes, the placement of long-familiar objects are directed and amplified by the use of text. The paintings act as ‘clarion calls’, urging a return to simpler values and paradoxically, encouraging indulgence in private, discrete pleasures.

Will Martyr’s work draws from sources ranging from Futurism to Pop in both art and music. In ‘Private Eyes’ (its title is taken from the Hall and Oates’s 1981 hit), the words jump out at the viewer from its epic mountain vista, sounding a warning at the same time as being frivolously seductive. Martyr’s other painting titles, ‘Hurts So Good’ (ref: John Mellencamp 1982), ‘The Art Of Parties’(ref: Japan 1982) and ‘Cover Girl’ revel in such ‘double entendres’. The surreal hyperbole of the imagery, the songs, and their titles, marry to form a single idea.

artist                                                    return                                                       E-mail: info@hayhillgallery.com