Happy Birthday Ruben Salazar

Artist: Martinez, Patrick

Date: 2020

Medium: Acrylic paint, airbrush, and ceramic on wood panel and gold mirror plex

Artwork Dimensions: 26 x 20 x 3 in.

County Department: Arts and Culture

Artwork Site: Civic Art Storage

About the Artwork: Martinez’ cake portraits are celebratory portraits meant to highlight important people in American history that haven’t yet been included in the canon. The artist states that although he depicts personages that are sometimes even considered radicals or renegades, his goal is to “paint them into importance.” In his words, “These paintings are meant to be the antithesis of chiaroscuro presidential type portraits of white men with gold frames in official buildings.”

About the Artist: Patrick Martinez maintains a diverse practice that includes mixed-media landscape paintings, neon sign pieces, cake paintings, and his Pee Chee series of appropriative works. The landscape paintings are abstractions composed of Los Angeles surface content, e.g. distressed stucco, spray paint, window security bars, vinyl signage, ceramic tile, neon sign elements, and other recognizable materials. These works serve to evoke place and socioeconomic position, and further unearth sites of personal, civic, and cultural loss. His work has been exhibited domestically and internationally. Martinez works and lives in Los Angeles.