A meditation on the possibility…

2005 - Sculpture (Sculpture)

12H x 5W x 1D inches; 10H x 4W x 1D inches

Daniel Joseph Martinez

location: Los Angeles, California
year born: 1957
gender: male
nationality: American
home town: Los Angeles, California

Martinez’s sculpture A meditation on the possibility… of romantic love or where you goin’ with that gun in your hand , Bobby Seale and Huey Newton discuss the relationship between expressionism and social reality in Hitler’s painting depicts the legendary Black Panther leaders Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. By using Carrara marble, a material usually associated with heroic public sculptures, Martinez casts the history of African-American revolutionaries into the artistic tradition of monumentality. Like the artist’s earlier work included in the 1993 Whitney Biennial, an interactive piece made up with pins that read, “I CAN’T IMAGINE EVER WANTING TO BE WHITE,” A meditation on the possibility… continues Martinez’s effort to expose cultural contradictions and increase public awareness.


For more than three decades, the Los Angeles–based artist Daniel Joseph Martinez has used every art medium at his disposal to investigate raw aspects of American culture, dipping adeptly into derangements of body and brain, individual and society. In one well-known piece that he produced for the 1993 Whitney Biennial, he replaced the text on the museum’s admission ticket with the phrase “I Can’t Ever Imagine Wanting to Be White.” Visitors held the sentiment in their hands and kept it in their pockets. In The House America Built (2004), he re-created in exacting detail the cabin in which the Unabomber penned his manifesto. While Martinez’s concepts are tight and concise, they leave ample space to implicate the viewer. His work prompts more than finger pointing; it catalyzes introspection, signaling the necessity of taking stock of one’s own role in perpetuating difficult yet ubiquitous images.


Colors:



Related works sharing similar palette

To See or Not to See: Learning from the Late Great Robert Irwin, Tourist Paintings, and What if Chris Burden Had Gone to Therapy
© » ARTNEWS REVIEWS

To See or Not to See: Learning from the Late Robert Irwin and More Skip to main content By Janelle Zara Plus Icon Janelle Zara View All January 13, 2024 3:50pm Installation view of Robert Irwin's untitled (dawn to dusk) , 2016, at the Chinati Foundation, Marfa, Texas...

All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace
© » KADIST

I like to think (and the sooner the better!) of a cybernetic meadow where mammals and computers live together in mutually programming harmony like pure water touching clear sky...

Press Release: Art21 to Release New Film: “Hannah Levy’s Adaptive Structures”
© » ART21

Press Release: Art21 to Release New Film: “Hannah Levy’s Adaptive Structures” | Art21 Our Series Art in the Twenty-First Century Extended Play New York Close Up Artist to Artist William Kentridge: Anything Is Possible Specials Art21.live An always-on video channel featuring programming hand selected by Art21 Playlists Curated by Art21 staff, with guest contributions from artists, educators, and more Art21 Library Explore over 700 videos from Art21's television and digital series Latest Video 15:03 Add to watchlist Politics of Listening Lawrence Abu Hamdan Extended Play February 7, 2024 Search Searching Art21… Welcome to your watchlist Look for the plus icon next to videos throughout the site to add them here...

Untitled 2
© » KADIST

Pratchaya Phinthong

Phinthong made four photographs depicting fragments of meteorites of which the faces have been polished to reflect the sky...

Public Gallery now represent Nils Alix-Tabeling
© » FAD MAGAZINE

Public Gallery now represent Nils Alix-Tabeling - FAD Magazine Skip to content By Mark Westall • 1 February 2024 Share — Public has announced the representation of French artist Nils Alix-Tabeling (b...

49/23 — Considering Technology, AI and Photography
© » LENS CULTURE

49/23 — Considering Technology, AI and Photography - Photographs by Gregory Eddi Jones | Interview by Liz Sales | LensCulture Feature 49/23 — Considering Technology, AI and Photography In his new thought-provoking series “49/23,” Gregory Eddi Jones considers the implications of rapidly advancing technology by intertwining vintage photography and AI-generated images...

Dutch artist Anneke Eussen’s border-questioning sculpture acquired by the city of Miami Beach
© » THEARTNEWSPER

Dutch artist Anneke Eussen’s border-questioning sculpture acquired by the city of Miami Beach Art market Museums & heritage Exhibitions Books Podcasts Columns Technology Adventures with Van Gogh Search Search Art Basel in Miami Beach 2023 news Dutch artist Anneke Eussen’s border-questioning sculpture acquired by the city of Miami Beach The purchase is part of the city’s annual programme to acquire a work from Art Basel in Miami Beach Elena Goukassian 9 December 2023 Share A visitor to Art Basel in Miami Beach looks at Anneke Eussen’s It’s Alright (2023) on Document's stand Liliana Mora The citizens of Miami Beach have spoken, and the annual municipal Legacy Purchase Program selection from this year’s Art Basel in Miami Beach fair is Anneke Eussen’s It’s Alright (2023), a wall-mounted sculpture that will join previously acquired works on permanent display at the Miami Beach Convention Center...

Stone Deaf (Drawing)
© » KADIST

Milena Bonilla

2009

Milena Bonilla’s discursive practice explores connections among economics, territory, and politics through everyday interventions...

Hong Kong art space Current Plans goes into ‘hibernation’, but first, an overnight farewell performance and podcast in its Sham Shui Po home
© » SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

Hong Kong art space Current Plans goes into ‘hibernation’, but first, an overnight farewell performance and podcast in its Sham Shui Po home...

JENG JENG JENG: Singapore Theatre Year In Review 2021
© » ARTS EQUATOR

JENG JENG JENG: Singapore Theatre Year In Review 2021 | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia ArtsEquator Viewpoints December 2, 2021 JENG JENG JENG…! Year in Review is back! Where did 2021 go? How did the year unravel, and where have we arrived at? In a year where the arts has had to acquiesce to multiple rules, hopeful for a return to normalcy, 2021 had us hurtling through an unknown abyss of multiple emotions best captured through this year’s theme: JENG JENG JENG! From anticipation, to tentative excitement, shock, surprise and even the indescribable, our beloved colloquialism JENG JENG JENG covers it all...

Another Man is relaunching for a new era of men’s fashion
© » DAZED DIGITAL

Another Man is relaunching for a new era of men’s fashion | Dazed ⬅️ Left Arrow *️⃣ Asterisk ⭐ Star Option Sliders ✉️ Mail Exit Fashion News The cult menswear magazine will return next spring, with editor-in-chief Ellie Grace Cumming at the helm 12 December 2023 Text Dazed Digital AnOther Man Starring Robert Pattinson 6 Another Man is officially back...

Twitter Logo Designer Says Goodbye To 'Great Blue Bird'
© » HUFFINGTON POST

Artist Martin Grasser, who helped design Twitter's iconic bird logo, said the symbol "did so much" since it was launched in 2012....

Larkstone
© » KADIST

Daniel Boccato

2017

Birdstones is a series of flat concrete slabs made from moldings of different shapes, each with two small holes...

Zemlya (The Soil) (Our Grandmothers’ Gardens series)
© » KADIST

Olga Grotova

2022

Our Grandmothers’ Gardens by Olga Grotova is based on the history of Soviet allotment gardens, which were small plots of land distributed amongst the families of factory workers to compensate for poor food supply in a country that was over-producing weapons...

The Gallery-Like Home of Collector Chara Schreyer, Who Championed ‘Strange’ Art, Has Come to Market in San Francisco - via artnet news
© » LARRY'S LIST

The San Francisco residence of Chara Schreyer, one of the world’s leading collectors of contemporary and modern art, has hit the market for $4.9 million....

Pio Abad
© » KADIST

Pio Abad joins KADIST in residence for three months to conduct research into narratives of exile and displacement from the ’70s and ’80s that brought Filipinos to California...

Untitled Inkblot Drawing (CT-1491)
© » KADIST

Bruce Conner

1995

Bruce Conner is best known for his experimental films, but throughout his career he also worked with pen, ink, and paper to create drawings ranging from psychedelic patterns to repetitious inkblot compositions...

All about washi: Japanese handmade paper’s ancient Chinese roots, its uses from writing to home decor, and why it can cost US$120 a sheet
© » SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

All about washi: Japanese handmade paper’s ancient Chinese roots, its uses from writing to home decor, and why it can cost US$120 a sheet | South China Morning Post Advertisement Advertisement Asia travel + FOLLOW Get more with my NEWS A personalised news feed of stories that matter to you Learn more Sheets of Hosokawa-shi, a type of Japanese washi recognised by Unesco as an item of intangible cultural heritage...