LILIAN MARTINEZ & ADAM BERIS

BOOTH 3.04

VIP OPENING PREVIEW:
Wed, Nov 30: 10am–4pm

HOURS:
Wed, Nov 30: 4pm–7pm
Thu, Dec 1: 11am–7pm
Fri, Dec 2: 11am–7pm
Sat, Dec 3: 11am–6pm

ICE PALACE STUDIOS, 1400 NORTH MIAMI AVENUE

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OCHI is pleased to participate in The New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA)’s 20^th edition of NADA Miami, to take place at Ice Palace Studios from November 30 through December 3, 2022. The Gallery will present a two-person booth featuring new paintings by Los Angeles-based artists Adam Beris and Lilian Martinez.

Adam Beris makes paintings that celebrate and challenge traditional relationships between object, subject, foreground, and background. Beris’ primary action in the studio is squeezing paint from tubes. Deftly extruding streams of unadulterated color into an array of symbols, characters, food, ideas, and abstractions, Beris has created an ever-expanding lexicon of pictographs that are informed by the shapes of language, infographics, and the pervasive influence of social media. Aligned in grids, Beris’ glyphs function like a lost codec of a childhood dream, but tangled amongst the blades of extruded paint grass, they resemble the refuse of a careless and anthropocentric society—and to prove his point Beris embeds objects scavenged during walks in his neighborhood in between painting sessions. Car keys, party decorations, and other symptoms of capitalistic excess are littered under bulbous fields of grass creating a synthesis of human interruptions to natural growth and a gesture towards entropy.

Lilian Martinez paints beautiful and healthy, brown-bodied protagonists that represent a collective desire to occupy space peacefully and safely. Each painting depicts a visionary world inhabited by women of color who bask in comfort as they enjoy leisure, sport, and snack. Ladies stroll, get ready, eat fruit, soak in hot tubs, and lounge in landscapes and interiors of soft blues, sun-faded yellows, blush, and lavender. With calm expressions and relaxed poses, they are framed by palms, monsteras, and blooming cacti, often accompanied by their pets. Full of large limbs, generous curves, and comfy, flowing fashions—there is no room for negative energy, physical or emotional violence, or false scarcity in any painting. Eschewing aphorisms such as fake-it-till-you-make-it, Martinez builds the world she wants to live in, populating it with individuals she can relate to. Her ongoing interest in classlessness—a push away from systemic hierarchical thinking—underscores her general philosophies of inclusivity and attainability.

Adam Beris (b. 1987, Milwaukee, WI) received a dual degree in Painting and Creative Writing from Kansas City Art Institute in 2009. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally at venues including MCC Longview Cultural Center in Lee’s Summit, MO; Over the Influence in Hong Kong, China and Los Angeles, CA; Y53 in Los Angeles, CA; Fabien Castanier Gallery in Los Angeles, CA; The Late Show in Kansas City, MO; and OCHI in Los Angeles, CA and Sun Valley, ID. Beris currently lives and works in Los Angeles, CA and is represented by OCHI in Los Angeles and Sun Valley, ID.

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