 
César A. Martinez
saalm 51st annual artist of the year 1999
 It is with great pleasure and pride that the san antonio art league museum presents César Martinez as saalm's 50th annual artist of the year for 1999. Congratulations to the artist, whose works hang in many private collections and have also been shown in museums and galleries throughout North America and Europe.
This exhibit will focus on Martinez's significant contribution to the arts in South Texas, as well as to the history of Chicano Art. Included in this exhibition will be 31 new pieces by César A. Martinez. The work presented in this show has not been seen in recent exhibitions.
Martinez was born in Laredo in 1944 and has drawn from his Mexican influences to create images which have become poignant narratives on Latin American culture. His unique approach to portraiture has won him familiarity in the arts community and has showcased his Latino subjects in many different venues which spans more than twenty-five years. He has participated in the creation of many short films and books on Latin American Art, and has become a strong voice for Chicano Art in San Antonio.
He has participated locally in programs such as the Visual Arts Visiting Artist at the University of Texas, San Antonio and a residency at ArtPace International in 1997.
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artist's statement
Over the years I have done a wide variety of works all pertaining to one series or another. Each series is at the service of the themes and subjects that are at it's core. The result has been bodies of work radically different from each other. Style is not an issue with me; style is essentially a superficial characteristic of ones work. I would prefer that my work be effective, communicative, rather than stylish.
At the conceptual end of things, my work covers a range of ideas that revolve around issues of identity and the politics of culture. Specifically, I deal with themes, issues, perceptions, images and ideas about contemporary Chicano or Mexican-American culture, it's history, it's concerns. And I also deal with the broader notions of how we fit into the bigger picture.
My work is culturally specific as it is definitive. It is fair enough to call what I do as Chicano Art, but one must bear in mind that it has to be art to start with, and that standard is universal. I feel comfortable with labels that fit.
- César A. Martinez
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introduction by: Otis L. Parchman
 It is said that an artist's imagery is based on the landscape of earliest childhood memories. César A. Martinez uses these landscapes to give us a deep look into the recent past of South Texas and a rich history of Latino culture. The strong characters in his Bato Series are directly from memory. Drawn from people he knew as a boy growing up in Laredo, they often are composites of several types and personalities. Each powerful face renders an identity. Silently looking out with irony, these Batos and their women speak volumes about Chicano culture. And behind a face is a surface, almost another painting in itself, to be considered. Painted with fluid brush strokes, backdrops are abstract works in the manner of the colorfield masters. Composition and the oddly set horizon line give the works a very contemporary edge.
In landscape paintings Martinez frequently shows the hot, dry expanses of the area. When closely studied, the dusty hues reveal an intimacy the artist bring the viewer of this place some of us call Tejas. Mixed media constructions are like cave drawings. Pieces of wood from old barns, or scrap metal from construction sites and old cars, all imprinted with markings from time and weather, blend with the hand of the artist to give clues of those who have passed this way. Martinez chooses each component carefully, and he puts it all together to chronicle a history of the Latino in Central and South Texas.
Grounded in solid academic basics César A. Martinez combines his skill and technique with knowledge of classical European art. He combines this foundation with the influences of ancient Mayan and Aztec symbolism. For the Bato Paintings he uses the faces of his amigos and the vivid colors and color combinations of his culture.They wear clothes and hair styles of the 50's. Many wear sunglasses to be cool!? - or is it to watch quietly without being seen? The paintings using religious icons are approached first from the cultural viewpoint. The burial of the dead and rebirth from it, is a recurring theme in many works. WIth the construction pieces we have a look at the Chicano of the countryside, and in some imagery from the heart of the barrio. In it all he reminds us of the hardships and the joys there. Through it we find the honesty and the humor that abides in the barrios of the soul.
Martinez's work is varied in content, spanning from traditional images to abstraction, it incorporates a wide range of media. In each style and media. In each style and medium there is consistent quality. The work is of and about the Chicano experience in South Texas, but is universal in scope and emotional and visual appeal. César A. Martinez is an artist of our time. He is well-grounded and works hard at his craft. But importantly, he is a man who genuinely enjoys what he is doing.
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works in the exhibition
click here for past artists of the year
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Revised: January, 2003
mixed media on wood
