Enrique Martinez Celaya
| Enrique Martínez Celaya | |
|---|---|
Enrique Martinez Celaya in his studio painting
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| Born |
June 9, 1964 Palos, Cuba |
| Nationality | Cuban |
| Education |
Cornell University (B.S. 1986) University of California, Berkeley (M.S. 1989) University of California, Santa Barbara (M.F.A. 1994) |
| Website | martinezcelaya |
Enrique Martínez Celaya (born June 9, 1964) is a contemporary artist who works in painting, sculpture, photography, poetry, and prose, presented in contexts he often refers to as "cycles" or "environments." His artistic work examines the complexities and mysteries of individual experience, particularly in its relation to nature and time, and explores the question of authenticity revealed in the relationships and tensions between personal imperatives, social conditions, and universal circumstances. These examinations often result in comprehensive projects addressing memory, familiarity, attachment, love, death, and longing.
Although his thinking is influenced by literature and philosophy, his work regards the subjective experience and practical responsibilities of everyday life rather than follows trends in cultural practices and critical theory. His work has been the subject of several monographic publications including Enrique Martínez Celaya, 1992-2000 (Wienand Verlag: Cologne, 2001), Enrique Martínez Celaya: Working Methods(Ediciones Polígrafa: Barcelona, 2013) and Martínez Celaya: Work and Documents 1990-2015 (Radius Books: Santa Fe, 2016).
Martínez Celaya was born on June 9, 1964, in Palos, Nueva Paz, Cuba. The family relocated to Madrid, Spain in 1972, and he took up drawing at the age of eight. "In Spain I became familiar with not belonging somewhere. That was a feeling I had not known before." In 1975, the family relocated again, this time to Puerto Rico. In Puerto Rico from age 11, he had been apprenticed to Bart Mayol. "To see his [Mayol's] love for the work," Martínez Celaya recalled, "was the greatest lesson I learned during my time with him." In a 2012 interview with the scientist Leo A. Harrington and novelist Mary Rakow, Martínez Celaya observed, "As a kid I painted and drew to make sense of life, and I never outgrew that approach."
Martínez Celaya moved to upstate New York in 1982 to study applied physics and electrical engineering at Cornell University. He graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. in 1986. He later attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he enrolled in the quantum electronics Ph.D. program. He worked at Brookhaven National Laboratory, patented four laser inventions, and earned his M.S. at Berkeley in 1989, but he left the university prior to earning his Ph.D. to pursue art.
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