Martin Webb

"My images often start from the memory of a certain scene or moment that really struck me. Usually it’s one that evokes a very specific time, place, or feeling. Sometimes I don’t necessarily understand why the image resonates so much, I just know that it does, and making the painting becomes a process of trying to understand why.”

My work examines universal themes of home, belonging, and connection, and our transient place within the continuum of the natural world. These thoughts take shape in paintings that combine representations of places, people, plants and animals, layered with abstractions that embrace metaphor and ambiguity. Recurring motifs of boats, houses, and travelers, reflect on life’s journeys, arrivals, and moorings.

My studio is next to an urban farm, which feels like a space of optimism and renewal, with the rhythms of planting and harvesting subtly shaping the images I produce. During the pandemic I started painting images of plants, often in vibrant colors - a coping strategy of defiantly creating some beauty amid the darkness.

2009-10. Northern California Public Art Academy.
2000. Fulbright/British Council teaching exchange.
1991. Bretton Hall College, University of Leeds UK. Post Graduate Certificate in Education in Art and Design technology.
1986. Lancaster University UK Bachelor of Arts Honors - Visual Arts. Special studies in
drawing,painting and illustration.

Selected solo and two-person exhibitions

2022: Stremmel Gallery, Reno, NV.
Good Cargo, Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA.
2021. Islands In The Stream, Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA.
2017. Dreamboat Installation, The Crocker Art Museum.
Many Streams, The Compound Gallery, Oakland CA.
Nightwalking, , City Of Berkeley Addison Street Windows gallery..
2014. Stanford Art Spaces, curated by DeWitt Cheng, Stanford University, CA.
2013. Made for you and me The Compound Gallery, Oakland CA.
2011. Making The Road by Walking Compound Gallery, Oakland CA. 2 person show with Thomas Christopher Haag
2010. The Peregrines Metro Gallery, City Hall, Reno NV.
2009. Well, how did I get here? De La Sole, San Francisco CA
Fully Guaranteed Genuine Pure Zza’s, Oakland CA.
2008. Best Western Esteban Sabar Gallery Oakland CA.
Solo show. Tercera Gallery Palo Alto CA.
2007. Passengers Float Gallery Oakland CA.
Solo show,Truckee River Gallery Reno NV.

Selected group shows

2021: Crocker Kingsley Exhibition, Blue Line Arts, Roseville CA.
2020: Left Coast Annual, Sanchez ...