Martin & Muñoz facts for kids

Walter Martin & Paloma Muñoz are a team of artists who work together. They are famous for creating unique sculptures and large photographs. Their art often shows tiny, detailed scenes that look like something from a strange, imaginary world.

Who Are Martin & Muñoz?

Walter Martin was born in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1953. Paloma Muñoz was born in Madrid, Spain, in 1965. Her mother, Paloma Navares, is also an artist, and her brother, David Muñoz, is a film director.

Martin and Muñoz met in 1993 and have been creating art together ever since. They live in Pennsylvania but also have a studio in Brooklyn, New York. They spend their summers working in Spain.

What Is Their Art Like?

Martin & Muñoz are best known for art that mixes beautiful, peaceful settings with dark or mysterious scenes. Their work often has a touch of dark humor and makes you think about life, loneliness, and strange new worlds. They are experts at creating a single moment in time that tells a much bigger story.

The Travelers Snow Globes

Their most famous works are a series of snow globes called Travelers. But these are not your typical holiday snow globes. Inside, they build tiny, detailed scenes of people in strange and difficult situations, often lost in a snowy landscape.

One art expert, Ken Johnson, said these tiny scenes are like "fairy tales or dreams." He explained that they show what it feels like when life is hard and you urgently need to find a new path. Another critic, Carlo McCormick, compared the globes to a fortune-teller's crystal ball, showing glimpses of bad luck or wrong decisions. The artists also create large, detailed photographs of these tiny worlds.

Art in the Subway

If you've ever been to the Canal Street subway station in New York City, you might have seen their work without realizing it. In 2001, they were asked to create a permanent art piece for the station.

Their installation, called "A Gathering," features 181 black bronze birds. These birds are not in a cage; they are perched all over the station—on railings, signs, and beams. They look like they are watching the busy commuters go by.

Exploring New Technology

In 2020, Martin & Muñoz started using augmented reality (AR) in their art. This technology lets them create virtual sculptures based on their snow globes. Using a phone or tablet, people can see these digital artworks appear in the real world, either in a museum or in their own homes.

Where Can You See Their Work?

Martin & Muñoz have shown their art in galleries and museums all over the world. Some of their important exhibitions include:

• 2022, "The Houses Are Blind, but the Trees Can See", Cervantes Institute, New York, NY, USA
• 2019, "A Mind of Winter", Museum der Moderne Rupertinum, Salzburg, Austria
• 2017, "Snowbound", Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art, Nashville, TN
• 2012, "Night Falls", P.P.O.W Gallery, New York, NY
• 2011, "Otherworldly", Museum of Arts and Design, NY
• 2009, "Walter Martin & Paloma Muñoz: Wayward Bound", John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI
• 2003, "Travelers", P·P·O·W, New York, NY
• 2001, "A Gathering", a permanent installation at Canal Street Station, New York, NY

Their art is part of the permanent collections of major museums, such as the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, Spain, and the Hunter Museum of American Art in Chattanooga, Tennessee.