Eugene James Martin

b. 1938, Washington D.C. d. 2005, Lafayette LA, USA.
Eugene Martin's art was "beyond category". He did not belong to any school or art movement, remaining an individualist and loner throughout his life. For him painting was an uncompromising, creative act. Known for abstraction and structural and biomorphic imagery expressed in pen & ink and pencil drawings, acrylics on paper and canvas, oils on canvas, and collages. Of his art, Eugene J. Martin has said: "There are opposing forces in all living things. My work reflects this and stirs up a contrast of emotions in the viewer -- perception versus annoyance. There is the obvious and there is that which defies explanation. To the viewer who has reached that level of awareness, my work is no longer abstract, but very real".

Martin's personal, often gently humorous works may incorporate whimsical allusions to animal and machine among areas of "pure" abstraction, but his art is difficult to classify. Eugene Martin's works of art can be found in numerous private art collections throughout the world, and are included in the permanent collection of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans; the Alexandria Museum of Art, Louisiana; the Stowitts Museum & Library in Pacific Gro...

1960-1963: attended Corcoran School of Art, Washington DC.
see: Artnet Artist Works Catalogues: http://www.artnet.com/awc/eugene-j-martin.html

SELECT RECENT SOLO EXHIBITS:
*2011. New Orleans African American Museum: New Orleans, LA. Dancing String Bean: Paintings and Drawings by Eugene Martin.
*2011. Louisiana State University Museum of Art, Shaw Center for the Arts: Baton Rouge, LA. Beyond Black: Ed Clark, Eugene Martin and John T. Scott.
*2009. Eugene J. Martin: Spice of Life. Cajun Spice Gallery, Lafayette LA.
*2009. Acadiana Center for the Arts, Side Gallery. Lafayette, LA.
*2007. Walter Anderson Museum of Art. Ocean Springs, MS.
*2007. LSU Alfred C. Glassell Jr. Exhibition Gallery, Shaw Center. Baton Rouge, LA.
*2007. Alexandria Museum of Art. Alexandria, LA. 2006. Stowitts Museum. Pacific Grove, CA.
*2006. University of Louisiana Dupr Library. Lafayette, LA.
*2006. Black Heritage Gallery. McNeese State University. Lake Charles, LA.
*2006. Ema's. Lafayette, LA. 2006. 307 Club, Lafayette, LA.
*2005. Cité des Arts. Lafayette, LA. 2005. Café des Amis. Breaux Bridge, LA.
*2005. Acadiana Center for the Arts. Lafayette, LA.
*2005. Clementine's. New Iberia, LA.
2004. Galerie Lafayette. Lafayette