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Details
- Place where the work was made
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United States of America
- Date
- 2020
- Media category
- Painting
- Materials used
- oil, spray paint, collaged canvas and thumbtacks on canvas
- Dimensions
- 190.0 x 243.85 cm
- Signature & date
Signed and dated l.r., oil "EM 20".
- Credit
- Gift of Costa Charalambous 2021. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
- Location
- Not on display
- Accession number
- 94.2021
- Copyright
- © Eddie Martinez/ARS. Copyright Agency
- Artist information
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Eddie Martinez
Works in the collection
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About
Eddie Martinez has a background in street art. The titular ‘blockhead’ in this painting functions like a graffiti tag, an artistic trademark which the artist deploys in a wide range of media including drawing, sculpture and painting. The ‘blockheads’ in 'Blockhead in black space' also evoke art historical precedents such as the crudely outlined faces of French proponent of ‘art brut’, Jean Dubuffet, and the strange bulbous heads that appear in the late paintings of American artist Philip Guston.
The surface of 'Blockhead in black space' is aggressively worked. Seen up close, it is revealed to be composed from cut pieces of canvas held together by thumbtacks and overpainted with a diverse range of gestures and marks. Densely layered and energetically composed, it combines the speed and raw immediacy of graffiti with a thoughtful appreciation of the history of late 20th Century expressionistic painting.
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Places
Where the work was made
United States of America