Lilian Martinez makes work that blends representation and iconographies of the past with the present and an imagined future, combining classical architectural elements with contemporary pop cultural references to create the settings for her portraits, landscapes, and still lifes. Her flat, bold style recalls iconic predecessors, while her impetus to center brown bodies that have historically been essentialized, if not omitted altogether, from these sorts of historical artworks recontextualizes the roles of the artist and subject at once. Martinez’ figures are usually engaged in everyday leisure activities, and her work indulges color and mood, all while maintaining a charming nonchalance. Even in the works bold simplicity, a matrix of historical and cultural signifiers exposes a boundlessness, both in connection through nostalgic specificity and limitlessness in the lack thereof.

Martinez (b. 1986, Chicago, IL) earned a BFA in Photography from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and currently lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. Alongside her studio-based practice, Martinez operates BFGF, a lifestyle brand that produces accessible and functional art objects. Martinez’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally at venues including the Green Family Art Foundation in Dallas, TX; Taubman Museum of Art in Roanoke, VA; The Naughton Gallery in Belfast, Ireland; Gallery Commune in Tokyo, Japan; Taymour Grahne in London, United Kingdom; and OCHI in Sun Valley, ID and Los Angeles, CA. Her work has been featured in publications such as Frieze, Artforum, The New York Times, The Cut, Architectural Digest, ARTnews, Hyperallergic, apartamento, Juxtapoz, Los Angeles Magazine, Artsy, LALA Magazine, Nationale, ArtPractical, and AUTRE. Martinez lives in Michigan and is represented by OCHI.