Daniel Joseph Martinez (born 1957) is a

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

-based contemporary artist.

Early life

Martinez grew up in

Lennox, California Lennox () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 22,753 at the 2010 census, down from 22,950 at the 2000 census. Geography Lennox's boundaries are Century Boulevard to the north (al ...

, a working-class area of

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...

near

Los Angeles International Airport Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...

. After high school, he attended the

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both ...

, where he received his BFA in 1979. During the 1980s, he worked as a freelance photographer, and spent time working with

Harry Gamboa Jr. Harry Gamboa Jr. (born 1951) is a Chicano essayist, photographer, director, and performance artist. He was a founding member of the influential Chicano performance art collective ASCO. Biography The first of five children born to a working-class ...

and ASCO.

Collections

Martinez' work can be found in public collections in the United States and abroad including the

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–1942), ...

in New York;

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California, Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Pa ...

(LACMA); the

Orange County Museum of Art The Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum located on the campus of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, California. The museum's collection comprises more than 4,500 objects, with a concentration o ...

, Newport Beach, California; Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, Miami, Florida; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas; and the Pace Foundation, San Antonio, Texas.

Honors

Daniel Joseph Martinez has received two

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

(NEA) Individual Artist Fellowships (1990–91, 1995–96) and an NEA Project Support Grant (1990); a

Getty Center The Getty Center, in Los Angeles, California, is a campus of the Getty Museum and other programs of the Getty Trust. The $1.3 billion center opened to the public on December 16, 1997 and is well known for its architecture, gardens, and views over ...

Foundation Individual Artist Fellowship (1997–98); a

Pollock-Krasner Foundation The Pollock-Krasner Foundation was established in 1985 for the purpose of providing financial assistance to individual working artists of established ability. It was established at the bequest of Lee Krasner, who was an American abstract expression ...

Individual Artist Fellowship (2001–02); a California Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship (2003–04); an ArtPace Foundation Fellowship (2005); a Peter Norton Family Foundation Project Support Grant (1991) and five Norton Foundation Artist Fellowships (1997–2001); the First Prize Grant Award of the Tijuana Biennial (2000); and a Flintridge Foundation Individual Artist Fellowship (2000–01). In 2007 Martinez was awarded the

United States Artists United States Artists (USA) is a national arts funding organization based in Chicago. USA is dedicated to supporting living artists and cultural practitioners across the United States by granting unrestricted awards. Mission The organization' ...

Fellowship, and in 2008–09, he received the Rasmuson Foundation Alaska Artist in Residence Award in 2009, the Fellows of Contemporary Art Fellowship in 2009; and the 2010 FOCA Fellowship Artist Grant and exhibition. In 2014 Martinez was awarded the

Alpert Award in the Arts The Alpert Award in the Arts was established in the 1994 by The Herb Alpert Foundation in collaboration with the California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, Cali ...

from the Herb Alpert Foundation in collaboration with the

. In 2016, Martinez participated in the

American Academy in Berlin The American Academy in Berlin is a private, independent, nonpartisan research and cultural institution in Berlin dedicated to sustaining and enhancing the long-term intellectual, cultural, and political ties between the United States and Germany ...

Fellowship, Berlin, Germany.

References

External links

Daniel Joseph Martinez at Roberts & Tilton''Daniel Joseph Martinez: A life of disobedience''
monography by Michael Brenson, Hakim Bey, David Levi Strauss, Gilbert Vicario, Lauri Firstenberg, Arthur C. Danto, Linda Norden, Rachel Leah Baum, Hatje Cantz Publications
Daniel Joseph Martinez
at

Kadist Art Foundation Kadist is an interdisciplinary contemporary arts organization with an international contemporary art collection. In addition to being a collecting body, Kadist hosts artists residencies and produces exhibitions, publications, and public events. ...

American artists of Mexican descent American contemporary artists Artists from Los Angeles Living people 1957 births {{US-artist-stub