Robert Martin
Location: Boulder Creek Path @ 9th Boulder
Artist Statement:
The upbringing that I experienced occurred in homes decked to their ceilings in wildlife art. I consider works by rural artists, wherein fantasy moments are created depicting large deer in heterosexual pairings bedding in the snow, and pheasants flying up dramatically from harvested corn fields. For many from my region, these works are a vision of fine art, despite their exclusion from the art historical canon. Most often these wildlife works are heavily romanticized, and plainly some degree of kitsch, but they are successful because they operate through a visual language rural Americans are fluent in. The commodified wildlife arts simply aim to raise the rose-tinted lenses between the countryman and the world around him. I haven’t lost comfort in the visual language of wildlife art, and I haven’t lost appreciation for my upbringing. Though, through distance, I’ve gained a more critical perspective. Queerness is not absent from the American hinterland. In fact, I see it everywhere. The trouble comes from a lack of acknowledgement, and the bleeding of human heteronormative perceptions over the natural, fluid environment. By subverting this commonly heteronormative imagery, I emphasize queerness and flamboyance within these rural spaces. Conversely, in generating wildlife art, I extend an invitation to those who may feel excluded by the elitist nature of the art world and its institutions.
My mural depicts a flamboyant celebration of Colorado's incredible mountain birds – a full mural of abundant avian beauty. At a time where we are witnessing the dramatic decline of our bird populations, and decreased protections….. I created a mural promoting awareness and appreciation for these fragile populations.
Photo by Peter Kowalchuk
Robert Martin
@robertmartinart
"ROBERT MARTIN is a (queer/non-binary) wildlife artist. In their work, Martin subverts the commonly heteronormative visual language of wildlife art to emphasize queerness and flamboyance within rural spaces. Conversely, in generating wildlife art, they extend an invitation to those who may feel excluded by the elitist nature of the art world and its institutions. Martin is interested in generating conversation over critique; between the queer community and rural America, between the fine art world and the commodified wildlife arts, across income brackets and beyond a gender binary.
Martin earned their BFA in Studio Art from the University of Wisconsin-Stout (2017), and is a current MFA candidate in Studio Practices at the University of Colorado-Boulder. They have exhibited at GOCA in Colorado Springs, Sierra Arts Gallery in Reno, IDS Tower in Minneapolis, and locally around Boulder. They are a 2019 NEST (Nature, Environment, Science & Technology) Grant recipient at CU-Boulder, were featured in UW-Stout’s 2017 Journal of Student Research, and recently were awarded a guest curatorship at Union Hall in Denver."
THANK YOU
to the City of Boulder, & the Office of Arts & Culture for hosting and sponsoring this mural!
