Mario M. Martínez
20 March 2023 – 20 May 2023
After years of militancy in the Asturian alternative scene, he begins his “official” artistic career. studying Engraving and Printing Techniques at the Oviedo Art School where, after the good reception received, he chains several cycles that in some way cement, mesh and explain the polyhedral character of his work. As a result of these studies, several residencies and scholarships arise that, combined with a concern that borders on hyperactivity, crystallize in the form of dozens of publications, exhibitions and projects, both individual and collective, that combine audiovisual, graphic and sculptural installation, underpinning the foundations of a particular universe where the limits of the personal, the public and the political are not completely defined and that takes on new dimensions every day, overflowing formats, permeating each and every facet of one’s life without losing the experimental character or the strong attachment to do it yourself ethics.
He is currently working as an animator on the short film “Cantar un batallón” by Inés G. Aparicio without leaving aside personal production.
Project in residence
Agüeyo
The cigüa is a pre-Christian amulet against the evil eye in the shape of a closed fist, leaving between the index and middle fingers. Despite having lost its ancestral connection, this figure is still fully integrated in popular culture as it is still common as a gift for newborns from a close relative. If it breaks, it means that it has saved the person carrying it from a major spell, and it is said that it only works if it has been a gift or the result of a robbery.
Another tradition deeply rooted in the Asturian idiosyncrasy in the resilience that, for better or worse, hangs around our necks, very close to our chest. An acceptance of one’s own condition forged by chaining one crisis after another and that has a double function: it sustains us in the face of adversity but carries us forward.
During the residency at LABoral, Mario M. Martínez will investigate these concepts (evil eye, resilience…) to express them in an installation. Using different materials such as steel, resin and other metals, he will create his own cigüa in Agüeyo, accompanied by an animated text.
Project selected in the I Call for Artistic Residencies 2023.
