Mark Anthony Martinez, MFA
Visual Artist \ Curator
b. 1987BFA; Intermedia, Pacific Northwest College of Art, 2012
MFA; Contemporary Art Practices, Portland State University, 2014Based in San Antonio, TX
Artist Statement
As an artist my work deals with generational anxieties regarding US society and history. I use art to process emotions I’m feeling through text, objects and installation. Specifically, my work illustrates a deep-seated feeling of anxiety, from the perspective of being a millennial of color.I feel we, as millennials, were sold progress but all we’ve seemed to inherit is precarity and regression. And while there are a few exceptions, there is still much anxiety caused by overwhelming inequity, technological dependence and policy makers alike.Consequently, my work invites a viewer in with bright colors, recognizable shapes and festive installation. In turn, my approach to these overwhelming concerns is to create objects and experiences that folks can engage within the safety of the gallery but more importantly – outside of the smart phone.I feel it important to articulate concerns such as these because ultimately these issues are not just faced individually but as a community.And as an artist, I cannot help but point to the things, institutions and myths; that not only consume our resources but pit us against one another and ultimately rob us of our personhood and culture.
Upcoming \ Currently On View
This month the SMART project space platforms political art, featuring 17 San Antonio based artists. The exhibition is intended to honor the late activist, writer and artist, Gene Elder (1949-2019) who developed Political Art Month, aka “PAM.” Intended to be an annual program, PAM highlights an artist’s political concerns of the current day. This year’s Political Art Month addresses an array of contemporary concerns including but not limited to; encroaching artificial intelligence, the need to embrace diversity, creating a space for queer liberation and contending with rising fascism in the US.This year’s PAM is curated by Allysha Farmer and Mark Anthony Martinez and features new works by: Andy Benavides, Priscilla Bermejo, Shelby Criswell, Joe De La Cruz, Manuela Gonzalez, Jesse Guevara, Tahia Farhin Haque, Linda Monsivais Hernandez, Deborah A. Moore Harris, Andrea L. Jacobson, Alethia Jones, Mark Anthony Martinez, Micheal Martinez, Oliver Lyric, Adrienne Morrow, Kate Wood, Stevan Zivadinovic.
Curations Upcoming: June, August, November 2026
Group Show: ALBATROSS 2.0, Building 5, Portland, OR, August 2026
Solo Exhibition: Cactus Barn, September 2026; Et Hus, March 2027; The Carver June 2027
Video Work
A collection of relevant video works and documentation of previous installations. See my Vimeo for more info.
"I'M NOT A COWBOY...," solo exhibition documentation, Clamp Light Artist Studios & Gallery, 2024
“Reverse Manifest Destiny,” video installation, originally created for the group show “IM\MATERIAL CONCERNS\,” 1906, San Antonio.
“art/worker,” video performance on PVM, created for the group show “ART/WORKER,” curated by Michael Martinez then selected for the curation “Vernacular Systems,” curated by Christopher Blay, 2024
“i did it to myself,” solo exhibition video pile documentation of “the doom scroll,” in the project space JANUARY, 2023.
SPECTRE, single channel video installation, exhibiting in tandem with the classic theatre’s production of “Measure for Measure,” San Antonio, 2023
“Brown Sugar,” A three hour performance neutralizing the radical within the artist; culminating in a “safer” brown hue. Originally performed at Recess, a project space in Portland, OR.
Visual Art Documentation
A portfolio of previously exhibited visual works and documentation of installations. See my instagram or follow me on Blue Sky (links below) for more information on upcoming studio happenings.
WHAT IS THE SHAPE OF AN ALBATROSS, installation view, 2026
WHAT IS THE SHAPE OF AN ALBATROSS, detail view of graduation cap & F-14, 2026
grasping at straws, a solo show by mark anthony martinez, 2025
grasping at straws, a solo show by mark anthony martinez, 2025
why do my eyes hurt (Neo to Morpheus), crayon, ink on paper, 12" x 9", 2025
I’M NOT A COWBOY…, install shot, photo credit Carlos Ferrand 2024
“i did it to myself,” solo exhibition installation view at the project space JANUARY, 2023. Photo credit: Luis M Garza, 2023
“i did it to myself,” solo exhibition installation view at the project space JANUARY, 2023. Photo credit: Luis M Garza, 2023
“No New White Friends,” neon art (fabrication credit King of Neon) (c/o Casie Lomeli’s Collection) and “art/worker,” video performance on PVM, as featured at the SA Contemporary for the curation “Vernacular Systems,” curated by Christopher Blay, 2024
installation view at FREIGHT gallery & studios, as ft. in the group exhibition "Images of Power," co-curated by Alana Coates, 2018"
"(off) white power," neon courtesy of the "King of Neon", Courtesy Manuel Diz’ collection, 2017
installation view at Mexic-Arte, as featured in the group exhibition “YLA 22: AHORA,” curated by Alana Coates, fabrication credit King of Neon, photo credit Andrea Rampone, 2017
CREAM, MFA thesis exhibition. 2014
Artist Biography
Mark Anthony Martinez is a conceptual artist, independent curator and fine arts educator based here in his hometown of San Antonio, Texas. Martinez holds a BFA in Intermedia Arts from the Pacific Northwest College of Art (2012) and an MFA in Studio Art from Portland State University (2014). He currently adjuncts at Our Lady of the Lake University, for the Visual arts & New media program (2025 – Present).Through his studio practice, he’s exhibited in numerous group shows locally and nationally, including; The Contemporary at Blue Star, San Antonio, TX (2024), Centro de Artes, San Antonio, TX (2020), The Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center Inc., New York, NY (2019), Mexic-Arte in Austin, TX. (2017) and, Co-Prosperity Sphere, Chicago, Il. (2014).Martinez has served as Visual Arts Director to the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center (2015-2017), Gallery Manager for the Michael and Noemi Neidorff Art Gallery at Trinity University (2018), co-curator pop-up space, Fake Gallery (2019), co-director of JANUARY (2023) and currently co-curator to both INTERLOPER GALLERY and the S.M.A.R.T. Project Space; respective visual arts incubators within the “1906 Studio.”