JAVIER MARTIN SPAIN, b. 1985

Javier Martin (b. 1985, Spain) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work spans painting, collage, installation, sculpture, and performance. A self-taught artist, he began painting at the age of seven and held his first exhibition at eight. Over the years, Martin has built a practice that reflects his deep interest in self-perception, consumption, technology, and the societal forces that shape contemporary values.

 

Since 2007, Martin has focused on a defining body of work, Blindness, in which he appropriates images from advertising and media. Through this ongoing series, Martin covers the eyes of his subjects with neon tubing and strokes of paint, symbolically blinding them. The subjects, often figures representing society’s aspirational beauty standards, are transformed into metaphors for the “social blindness” induced by consumerism and technology. This visual intervention invites viewers to consider the role of imagery in shaping our perceptions and desires.

 

Martin’s work challenges the dominant narratives of power, beauty, and consumption that flood our daily lives. Beginning with the appropriation of advertising visuals, his work has continuously interrogated societal ideals, using concealment and contrast to deconstruct notions of desire and power; in the last couple of years, he extends this inquiry into language itself, interrogating the relationship between language, imagery, and the manipulation of memory, with projects like Conceptual Poetry and Words and Matter, Martin explores language as both material and concept, questioning authorship, identity, and the boundaries between words and objects. By blurring the
lines between text, painting, and sculpture, his work engages with politics, spirituality, and consumer culture in a way that encourages viewers to reflect deeply on the world around them.

 

Martin has exhibited extensively in museums and cultural institutions around the world. His first major solo museum exhibition, Blindness, was held at The Seoul Museum (2019) , his work has since traveled to institutions like The Andong Arts & Culture Center, The Koo House Museum and Tri-bowl Art Space in South Korea. Other significant exhibitions include 3650 Storage 10th anniversary of The Seoul Museum (2023), LIES & LIGHT at MOCA Jacksonville (2017) and A Collector's Story Exhibition -Taviloğlu Collection at ArtIstanbul Feshane (2025). His recent solo projects include Words and Matter (Kiwa Gallery) in Seoul (2024), Appropriation of Fragments at Ascaso Gallery (Miami, 2023), Lights Appropriation at Pulpo Gallery (Germany, 2022), and Infinite Light at MAKI Gallery (Tokyo, 2019), Blindness The Appropriation of Beauty Curated by Robert C. Morgan (New York, 2018). Martin’s work has also been a part of group exhibitions, such as a duo exhibition at ISETAN Shinjuku (Tokyo, 2022), and Plan B at David Zwirner Gallery (New York, 2019), Intramoenia - Cattelani Collections in Modena, Italy (2018).

 

Through his practice, Martin invites viewers into a conversation about perception, consumption, and the meaning we assign to the images and words that define our contemporary existence. His art challenges us to question the ways in which we see the world—and the truths we might overlook in the process.