Jason Martin – “New Paintings” Solo Exhibition

Text and photos by Chen Chi-Hsiang. Dates: June 22 to July 28. Venue: Thaddaeus Ropac gallery. Are the “new paintings” new bottles holding old wine, or merely a label change? Is it reheated leftovers or fried rice? In this era where anything goes, what cannot be done? Whether new bottles with old wine, or old wine with new labels, the “new painting” is like adding pepper to fried rice that was once cold leftovers. Amidst change and continuity, how are the concepts, forms, and content of painting renewed? This represents the driving force of each generation striving for strength, attempting groundbreaking explorations. From essential abstract painting to formalism, to narrative abstraction, whether cold or fried, it remains rice—painting remains painting. Stella’s formalist statement “what you see is what you see,” Olivier Mosset’s post-formalist “something you cannot see,” to Peter Halley’s new abstract geometry or neo-geometric abstraction stating “I have always considered my work to be an image of something.”

Monochrome painting is the ultimate result of abstract painting; its evolution through time is one way modern art’s abstract tradition manifests itself. In postmodern painting, even those “fried rice with pepper” remain possibilities under various conditions. Jason Martin inherits the traditions of monochrome painting and abstract brushwork. His monochromes captivate not only through color but also through gestures and bodily actions in the brushstrokes, creating tactile material tension. His creative core revolves around gestural brushwork and the materiality of painting. “In these paintings there is some deep organic matter captured in lifeless matter, and given life again in reconstruction. Replaced by pigments found in nature, such as purple or gray… (…), Jason Martin’s beautiful and captivating deep blue and green. His works manifest natural states…” (Note: Refer to the gallery press release for the solo exhibition).