Now more than ever, inspiration comes to us from the artists ‒ and great art writers who shine a light on their stories. 𝗡𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘀𝗼 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘇 is a Mexican American artist in California
@narsisomartinez who was a farmworker.
He creates art on discarded cardboard boxes used by the agriculture industry to deliver produce to consumers.
First slide: photo of the artist by 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝗱𝘆𝗮𝘁𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗷𝗮 for PBS SoCal.
@grace.widyatmadja
“A tribute to farmworkers, through portraits, installations, and expansive murals, he captures not only their labor, but also their presence, resilience and humanity,” writes 𝗥𝗼𝘅𝘀𝘆 𝗟𝗶𝗻 in 𝘗𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘢 𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘦 of the 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗰 𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀.
@officialnahj
“Drawing from his own experience as a farmworker, his work amplifies the people who fill produce sections and restaurant kitchens around the country,” writes 𝙋𝘽𝙎 𝙎𝙤𝘾𝙖𝙡.
“Martinez etches the faces of his community above the glamorized fruits of their labor, to have a conversation between the farm workers and the agricultural industry,” writes 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘀 in 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙇𝙤𝙨 𝘼𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨.
“Martinez continues his exploration of the labor system, relationships, and power imbalances,” writes 𝗞𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀 in 𝘾𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙡. “He employs visual languages of prestige ‒ emphasis on luxurious fabrics and backgrounds of gold leaf ‒ to empower and uplift workers.”
He migrated to the U.S. when he was 20, and worked for nine seasons as a farmworker to fund his college education. He earned a BFA and an MFA from California State University Long Beach. His work has been exhibited internationally, and is in the collections of major museums nationwide.
We had the honor of meeting the artist in 2018 at the 𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘂𝗺, thanks to 𝗥𝗼𝗻 𝗡𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗼𝗻 (
@ronlbma ) the museum’s Executive Director.
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