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Pow Martinez

1983, Lives and works in                       
Manila, Philippines.

Martinez’s paintings belie their grotesque subject matter with the indelibly beautiful surfaces and a wideranging, daring use of color. Mutants, monst sers, demons, deviants, and freaks lurch, sit, and appear to transform amidst weirdly lit landscapes or disintegrating urban scenarios, or emerge from a painterly graffito mess, but, as his more abstracted works insist, Martinez’s ability to render intriguing relationships between forms and surfaces ensure his works are endlessly compelling—an experience akin to a beautiful nightmare.

EDUCATION

2004-2006

Kalayaan College, Painting

2002-2004

University of the Philippines, Visual Communication

INDIVIDUAL EXHIBITIONS
2020

Sustainable Anxiety, Silverlens, Manila

2018

Aesthetic Police, ROH Projects, Jakarta

2017

Techno-utopian, Silverlens, Manila

and now back to our regular programming, Art Informal, Manila

2016

Advanced Human, Random Parts, Oakland

a man without a hobby is worthless, TAKSU Gallery, Singapore

2015

psychodelic behavior, West Gallery, Manila

From the bitter abyss, Megumi Ogita Gallery, Tokyo

2014

May Cause Profound Mental Retardation, Pablo Gallery, Manila

Caught between honor and revenge, how far will one man go, Silverlens, Manila

dogs playing poker, Manila Contemporary, Manila

2013

1 bit, Mo_Space Project Room, Manila

Losing my edge, Pablo Gallery, Manila

Medieval woodcuts, Finale Art File, Manila

2012

Sploshing, Finale Art File, Manila

Low Res, West Gallery, Manila

Cyborg Scallops, Silverlens, Manila

2011

Nature Paintings, NOW Gallery, Manila

Destroyed Planets, Pablo Gallery, Manila

Cut Hands has the Solution, West Gallery, Manila Easy Listening Paintings, Mag:net Gallery, Manila

2010

march of the pigs, Lost Projects, Manila
hyper blast abomination, Mag:net Gallery, Manila

 

2009

the brutal gardener, Mag:net Gallery, Manila

one billion years, West Gallery, Manila

2007

pathetic doggy paddle, Mag:net Gallery, Manila

COLLECTIVE EXHIBITIONS

2021

NFT: No Frills Tomorrow, Modeka Creative Space, Manila

Only a Joke Can Save Us, Present Projects, Hong Kong

Art Basel, Silverlens, Hong Kong

‘Only a Joke Can Save Us’ Present Projects Gallery, Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong Art Fair Philippines, Silverlens, Manila

S.E.A. Focus, Tanjong Pagar Distripark, Singapore

SOUTH SOUTH VEZA, SOUTH SOUTH Platform

2020

Anticipating the Day, Silverlens, Manila

Searching Sanctuary, Silverlens, Manila

Art Fair Philippines, Silverlens, Manila

2019

An Artinformal Christmas Group Show, Artinformal, Manila

Art Jakarta, ROH Projects, Jakarta

WXXX, West Gallery, Manila

City Prince/sses, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France

50 Years in Hollywood, Pintô International, New York

Art Basel, Silverlens, Hong Kong

Art Fair Philippines, Silverlens, Manila

Taipei Dangdai, Silverlens, Taipei

2018

Recent Works, Underground Gallery, Manila

Art Basel, Silverlens, Hong Kong

Chaos, Silverlens, Manila

Art Fair Philippines, Silverlens, Manila

2017

Art Taipei, Taipei World Trade Center, Hall One, Taipei

Translación, Inaugural Exhibition, Curated by Gary-Ross Pastrana, Silverlens, Manila

2016

WASAK! Reloaded, Arndt, Singapore

WASAK!, Arndt, Berlin

2015

No Singing Allowed, Silverlens, Manila

2014

Brave New Worlds, Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Philippines

2013

manila vice, MIAM, Sete, France

pirates, Megumi Ogita Gallery, Tokyo

2012

bastards of misrepresentation, Topaz Arts, New York

2011

Confessions of a sinner, Manila Contemporary, Manila

Post local, Silverlens, Manila

Greatest Hits, Bastards of Misrepresentation, doing time on Filipino time, 8 Salon, Hamburg

Hide the Women and Children, Mo_Space, Manila

Salvation in a nest of vipers, Y3K, Melbourne

Complete and Unabridged, Osage Gallery, Hong Kong

2010

bastards of misrepresentation, doing time on Filipino time, Fries Museum, Berlin

serial killers from tate modern to taksu Singapore, Taksu, Singapore

beautiful inside my head forever, Silverlens, Manila

sirens hall, Mo_Space, Manila

in fairness, Finale Art File, Manila

happily unhappy, Blanc Gallery, Manila

2009

selected memory, Richard Koh Fine Art, Kuala Lumpur

one small step for man, one giant leap for woman, Mag:net Gallery, Manila

welcome to the jungle, Art Informal, Manila

2007

shoot me, Mo_Space, Manila

i have nothing to paint and i’m painting it, Manila Contemporary, Manila

Sungdu-an 4”extensions,” Cagayan de Oro University

2006

the blank show, West Gallery, Manila

long goodbye, Mag:net Gallery, Manila

Strait from the source, Future Prospects, Manila

missing vocabularies, Green Papaya Art Projects, Manila

2005

common and uncommon goods, Future Prospects, Manila

other matters, Future Prospects, Manila