ALFREDO MARTINEZ
Alfredo Martinez was a rule breaker. He saw that criminality could be the perfect counterpart to fame and he possessed the powerful talent of storytelling. He thus utilized his time in prison to supercharge his art career. He served time for forging Basquiats, got shot in Guatemala, and was tortured in a secret prison in China. He seemed to live within the controversial art underworld.
Thus, he knew a thing or two about guns. Martinez’s prison gun drawings are his most notable original works. The prestigious Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in NYC notably features one of the cornerstone pieces of this collection.Martinez related his work back to films that impacted him at a young age such as Mad Max and Star Wars. Drawing inspiration from prop making, Martinez cobbles together found objects into menacing looking weapons: cold and high-tech. His drawings act as building plans. Subconsciously, his work reflects the culture in which he was raised. It is both direct, unabashed, and profound. Martinez’s work becomes a poignant statement towards a society obsessed, transfixed, and dominated by guns.