ENRIQUE MARTÍNEZ CELAYA:  WORKING METHODS / MÉTODOS DE TRABAJO

WITH AUTHOR MARY RAKOW, CURATOR HOWARD N. FOX AND THE ARTIST
 

In the first comprehensive study of Martínez Celaya’s multifaceted process, authors Mary Rakow and Matthew Biro illuminate previously unaddressed aspects of the artist’s practice including his materials and his approach towards them, literary influences, tendency to destroy his own work, and the changes that led to pivotal moments in his career. Working Methods is a lovely hardbound monograph that features new photography, archival images, and a number of previously unpublished works. Also included are an interview by Rakow with the artist that reveals his unique practice as well as a biographical chronology, bibliography, and exhibition history. Enrique Martínez Celaya is one of the most intriguing and celebrated artists to emerge from the United States in recent years. Trained as artist and physicist, his practice embraces painting, sculpture, photography, and writing. His projects frequently take the form of multidisciplinary environments that balance images with the immediacy of the material experience, and his ideas as well as his approach are influenced by sources that range from Nordic poetry to quantum physics. His early training as a scientist and his interest in philosophy is evident in his layered work which is cerebral, emotionally direct, and deeply connected to life.