Lot 181: Untitled

Chris Martin (b. 1954) Untitled dated twice '10.10.2005 2004-2005' (lower right); signed with the artist's initials and dated '2005 CM' (on the reverse) acrylic, paper towels, newsprint and oil on canvas 134 5/8 x 114 1/8 in. (342 x 290 cm.) Executed in 2005.

342 x 290 cm.

London, Saatchi Gallery, Abstract America: New Painting and Sculpture, 2009, pp. 42-43 (illustrated).

Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York Acquired from the above by the present owner

Pushing the boundaries between the most sophisticated formalism and outsider art’s instinctive logic, Chris Martin makes abstract painting look enviably effortless. His large scale canvases reflect a zany approach to experimentation and a methodological mode of play, conceiving painting as something intrinsically haptic that resolves from an intimately hands-on negotiation of materials. Martin’s works are renowned for their extremely physical surfaces which are created by collaging found items onto the canvas. In Untitled, the painting’s texture is made from paper towels, newspaper, and acrylic gel – a thick paint-like substance resembling liquid plastic. Over-painting these with a bold graphic motif of a constellation network, Martin references the connective processes of making, placing his topsy-turvy rationale as a field of wonder and contemplation.