ShowsShows
Martin's work is a meditation of lines; a language of characters, creatures and messages that invites viewers to share a role in the creative process.
ThingsThings
Autobiographical and dreamlike, Martin bridges the fine art and commercial world, as well as the objects, places and conversations of the everyday experience.
Experi
mentalExperi
mental
From early beginnings with live performance drawing in the mega clubs of Tokyo, to her trademark continuous line, Martin's diverse work navigates many worlds.
WallsWalls
ClothingClothing
DANCE EVERYDAY
2017
The first step towards the rebirth for one of Buffalo's historically neglected neighborhoods the East Side's Northland Corridor, Shantell Martin's drawing "Dance Every Day" is a signal of things to come for the long-struggling community. Much of the plant will be demolished as part of a $42 million Buffalo Billion-funded revamp of the Northland Corridor into a hub for light industry and commerce that is being run by the Buffalo Urban Development Corporation. The work is the product of a collaboration between the Albright-Knox Art Gallery's public art program and the University at Buffalo's fledgling Creative Arts Initiative.
"Dance Every Day", Martin's largest ever public art piece, was completed over a weekend in June. In that time, she worked with Buffalo artist Scott Bye and used several cans of spray-paint to transform the whitewashed wall into what many are seeing as a joyful reflection of a neighborhood creaking slowly back to life.
"What I do is playful. I feel like a big kid. What I do, I love it, and I enjoy it," she said. "And even if I come in in a bad mood, like 10 minutes later, I'm in a really great mood because I'm doing something I love. And I think people should do more of that."
Read more here.
