Mario Martinez (painter) facts for kids

Mario Martinez, born in 1953, is a talented Native American artist. He is known for his modern abstract paintings. He is a member of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe from New Penjamo, a small Yaqui community in Scottsdale, Arizona. Today, he lives in New York City. His art is shown in galleries in London and New York.

How Mario Martinez Studied Art

Mario Martinez studied art at Arizona State University in Tempe. He later earned a master's degree from the San Francisco Art Institute. These schools helped him develop his unique painting style.

Mario Martinez's Art Career

Mario Martinez has shown his artwork in many important places. In 2005, a special show of his art was held at the National Museum of the American Indian in New York. This was a big event that looked back at his work.

His paintings have also been part of group shows. These include "Who Stole the Tee Pee?" at the National Museum of the American Indian. His art was also seen at the Chelsea Art Museum in New York in 2010. In 2002, Mario Martinez was one of the first non-Japanese artists to show his work at the Museum of Modern Art in Saitama, Japan. This was a special invitation.

From 2001 to 2002, Mario Martinez was a Native Artist in Residence at the National Museum of the American Indian. This means he worked there as an artist for a period of time. In 2005, he created a large painting for the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona. This painting was a 22-foot mural called Sonoran Desert: Yaqui Home. It was part of an exhibit about desert peoples.

Where Has Mario Martinez's Art Been Shown?

Mario Martinez's art has been featured in many exhibitions. Here are some of the places where his work has been displayed:

Major Exhibitions

• Stretching the Canvas: Eight Decades of Native Painting (2019–2021) at the National Museum of the American Indian George Gustav Heye Center in New York.
• Into the Void: ABSTRACT ART, 1948 - 2008 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tucson, Arizona, in 2010.
• IN/SIGHT 2010, a group show of modern art by American Indian Artists, at the Chelsea Art Museum in New York, in 2010.
• The Importance of IN/VISIBILITY showing recent work by Native American Artists living in New York City, at Abrazo Interno Gallery, New York, in 2009.
• New Tribe: New York: From Tradition to Transcendence, Mario Martinez Retrospective at the National Museum of the American Indian, George Gustav Heye Center in New York City, in 2005. This was a special show just for his art.
• Home: Native People in the Southwest at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, in 2005.
• Contemporary Artists Federation group show at the Saitama Museum of Modern Art, Saitama, Japan, in 2002.
• who stole the tepee? at the National Museum of the American Indian, George Gustav Heye Center in New York, in 2000.
• Native Abstraction: Modern Forms Ancient Ideas at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1997.
• Artists Who Are Indian at the Denver Art Museum in Denver, Colorado, in 1995.

Where Can You Find Mario Martinez's Art?

Mario Martinez's paintings are part of many important art collections. These collections help keep his art safe and allow many people to see it.

Public and Museum Collections

• National Museum of the American Indian, part of the Smithsonian Institution.
• Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona.
• City of Phoenix, City Hall Collection, Arizona.
• City of Scottsdale, City Hall Collection, Arizona.
• Rockwell Museum in Corning, New York.
• Tucson Museum of Art in Tucson, Arizona.
• University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona.
• Snite Museum at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana.

Awards and Special Projects

Mario Martinez has received several awards and worked on special projects.

• In 2007, he was part of the Art in Embassies Program. This program shares American art with other countries.
• He completed a large mural for the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, between 2003 and 2005.
• From 2001 to 2002, he was a Native Artist in Residence at the National Museum of the American Indian.
• In 2015, he was an invited artist for the Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship.