Donald Martiny and Max Frintrop: Uncharted

San Diego, California – Madison Gallery presents Uncharted. Lorna York, founder of Madison Gallery, personally curated this exhibition - bringing together Donald Martiny and Max Frintrop - two artists from different cultural backgrounds, each engaged in an ongoing and intensely experimental investigation into the techniques and materials of art making. Despite their distinct artistic styles, both artists can evoke an emotive sensation in movement and space, inviting viewers to reflect on their experiences and the art itself. Uncharted is an abstract journey into the unknown, where the two can celebrate form, space, and color to promise a visually exciting experience. Both artists will be present on the exhibition's opening night, September 14th, 6 - 8 PM.

“Painting is in uncharted territory at this moment. The question, ‘What is art?’ is no longer compelling, as many artists and writers have successfully argued that anything can be art.

A more thought-provoking and engaging question, particularly relevant in our contemporary art landscape, is, ‘What are the criteria for art to be good?’ …” – Donald Martiny

Martiny advances this idea considerably further by freeing the gesture of gestural abstraction from the substrate, which, here to fore, provided the context that brought the gesture to life. Working with polymers and dispersed pigments, Martiny has developed a methodology that enables him to isolate his magnificently sculptural brushstrokes, lifting them off the traditionality of the canvas. His brushstrokes nearly become life-like and are physically present to the viewer; the essence of his material allows him to work on a larger scale, opposite of being restricted to the surface of a canvas. When installed, these singular brushstrokes range from two to as many as twelve feet in length, emitting a new kind of life into the space.

Donald Martiny was born in Schenectady, NY, 1953 and currently lives and works in Connecticut. He studied at the School of the Visual Arts, The Art Students League in New York, New York University, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. His most notable collections can be found at the Phoenix Art Museum (Phoenix), The Crocker Museum of Art (Sacramento, CA), The Amon Carter Museum of American Art (Fort Worth, TX), The Newcomb Museum of Art at Tulane University, (New Orleans,) LA Fort Wayne Museum of Art, (Fort Wayne, IN), The Lamborghini Museum, (Sant ‘Agata Bolognese, Italy), One World Trade Center, (New York City, NY) and the Los Angeles International Airport, (Los Angeles, CA).

Max Frintrop's paintings offer a distinctive journey welcoming the spectator to transcend into a two-dimensional space. Frintrop's figuration truly focuses on the chromatic universe, which allows the viewer to reflect inwards and outwards. This results in different interpretations based on one's memory and life. Ultimately, Frintrop takes everything from the viewer yet gives it back, producing a silent congruence between the viewer and the painting. He says, "It's important that the mind rests in a neutral position occasionally. Sometimes, it's here—in this very state—when new things pop up from our subconscious. It's a rare treasure, a luxury, and should be paid close attention to."  His approach very much consists of the act of painting itself, which is seen through the movement of his brushstrokes; the brush guides his hand, and his subconscious takes on the motion of the work. Frintrop's work consists heavily of abstract expressionism, which emerged in Europe, particularly Germany, during World War II. Influenced by hard lines, rigid paint placement, and the significant size of his work, Frintrop still plays into the spontaneity of gestural abstraction, creating a perfectly balanced duality.

Max Frintrop, born in Oberhausen in 1982, lives and works in Dusseldorf. After studying under Albert Oehlen at the Dusseldorf Art Academy, Frintrop became interested in combining the emotive, gestural quality of abstract expressionism with the relative rigidity of constructivism. His works can be found in his most notable collections at the Kunstmuseum Bonn and the Lippisches Lands Museum.

Uncharted is all about the artistic language of infinite possibilities captured by these skillful artists. Madison Gallery is excited to show the two side by side and delve into the new curiosities of what art was, is, and possibly will be. Martiny and Frintrop work theatrically to explore the uncharted realms of art, through the creation of mixing vibrantly pigmented polymers to the dispersion of ink, both in a manner that requires the artist to spontaneously react to the process. Since they are both quick-drying materials, they must act in the moment to obtain the best results from their medium. The two artists look back into the history of artmaking for inspiration, whether through their choice of material or technique, to break traditional art boundaries.

Founded by Lorna York in 2001, Madison Gallery’s program focuses on internationally recognized, museum-level artists whose work contributes to domestic and international cultural dialogue. The gallery presents significant Latin artists and brings international artists to Southern California for the first time. The core gallery program focuses on established and mid-career artists, but the gallery also punctuates the program with historical exhibitions to provide depth and context. Artists represented by Madison Gallery receive critical attention and are widely exhibited. Many of the gallery’s primary artists, shown initially with Madison Gallery, are now being exhibited internationally and by established galleries in other cities, proving that the gallery has become a springboard for young talent.