Jel Martinez -- Cuban-American born and residing in Miami, FL -- has an artistic vision deeply rooted in graffiti art of the late 1980s when he was a founding member of the Ink Heads Crew. His work engages with the often fraught concepts of vandalism and graffiti removal, where metropolitan cleanup crews dismantle one form of wall art only to give rise to another.

Martinez's paintings organically merge early artistic street art trends with an erasure style known as “buffs,” conferring a distinct post-modern aesthetic. His studio-contrived “buffs” manifest as elaborately textured and layered patterns, resulting in a visual tapestry.

Featured throughout the 1990s and early 2000s alongside heralded "writers” such as Brian Donnelly ("Kaws"), Barry McGee (“Twist”), Jose Parla (Ink Heads Crew), and OSGEMEOS, Martinez’s work can be found in foundational zines such as Can Control, 12oz Prophet, On the Run, Fatcap, and Undercover. As early as 2003, international brands like Altoids began recruiting Martinez to design walls and campaigns associating their products with his intrepid street art. More recent projects include commissions by companies like Formula One Grand Prix (racing) and Ripple (cryptocurrency).

By 2008, Martinez had met legendary real estate and art impresarios, Tony Goldman and Jeffrey Deitch, in Miami and joined their visionary project Wynwood Walls. Martinez continued to exhibit in Wynwood, considered the world capital of street art, in tandem with Shepherd Fairy, Nunca, and Futura, and was soon showing at international art fairs such as Scope, Pulse, and Untitled Art. He’s been included in notable exhibitions and venues such as Flip the Script (NYC), Urban Abstraction (Phoenix), The Museum of Graffiti, and RedLine Contemporary Art Center (Denver).

Drawing from his immersion in modern-day contemporary culture, Martinez infuses his work with a fresh take on expressionism. His canvases mirror intricate layers of build-up found in the urban environment. His highly textural work incorporates acrylic, enamel, oil, and ink. These materials converge to form a mosaic of free-floating patches of color, akin to the buffs found in urban settings.

Martinez’s artistic journey is a dynamic interplay of creation and deconstruction. His paintings extend an invitation to partake in the daily dialogue between the human and built environment, where layers of expression converge and converse with a city's inhabitants.

Jel Martinez

Dance, 2024