Natacha Martins
Natacha Martins grew up in Portugal and graduated with a BFA in painting from theUniversity of Porto. Upon graduation, Natacha entered the Erasmus Program to expand her studies in Italy, followed by a successful residency in 2019 at the Pilotenkueche International Art Program, in Leipzig, Germany, the country where she has settled, as it offers her a strong connection with history and a vibrant contemporary art scene.
Natacha is a gifted painter. Standing on the shoulders of masters such as El Greco, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Chaïm, Soutine, or Max Beckmann, she uses the materiality of paint to depict human complexity. Like her predecessors, the German Expressionists of the early 1900s, she captures moods with arresting brushstrokes and a masterful use of color, amplifying the strength of a deceptive self-referential intimacy. While Natacha’s works cannot be considered self-portraits, her paintings stand as a testament to the influence of her environment.
Her effective use of ambitious and complex spatial compositions keeps the eye of the viewer travelling through the work, adding a sense of urgency. Natacha has the power to create emotional distortions with the movement of her brush, using the rawness of contrast and expression to connects us back with our primal nature. She gives herself to the voyeur through her paintings, forming a powerful but deceitful link with the observer. She has occasionally used performance as a vehicle, allowing the characters of her paintings to exit the canvas, just as she did when she slept in front of the Crucifixion and Deposition of Christ, a triptych she presented in 2019 at the Biennial of Contemporary Art in Leipzig.
Natacha Martins’ art evolves in response to changes in her surroundings, still-lives, studio vistas, and nature recently appearing as her subjects. Despite these shifts, the work maintains strong ties to her roots. Natacha, like many Renaissance and Baroque Portuguese artists, has employed wood to create polyptychs which at times recall the poignancy of Paula Rego’s legacy and her struggles.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2021 I Have Read and Agree with the terms, ArtLab24, Aveiro,Portugal
Confessionário, Galeria Ocupa, Porto, Portugal
2020 Point of No Return, Das Japanische Haus e. V., Leipzig,Germany
Time Stands Slow Here, S1 Vinyl & Kaffe, Leipzig, Germany
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022 Prémio D. Fernando II XVII Edition, Museu Municipal deSintra, Portugal
2021 S/Título #1 Edition Publication Release, PrismaEstúdio, Lisbon, Portugal
Exhibition Jeune Création Européenne 2019-2021, BiennaleD’Art Contemporain in Villa
Mainona, Tremezzina, Italy
Exhibition Jeune Création Européenne 2019-2021, BiennaleD’Art Contemporain in Casa
Empordà – Museu de l’Empordà, Figueres, Spain
Exhibition Jeune Création Européenne 2019-2021, BiennaleD’Art Contemporain in Museu
Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso, Amarante, Portugal
Bienal VI Internacional de Arte em Espinho, Museu FACE,Portugal
Distant Encounters, Projectwohung Krudebude e.V. from theArt Festival ART
GO EAST, Leipzig, Germany
Abriga, Galeria Geraldes da Silva, Porto, Portugal
London Paint Club, Online
Vårsufflé 2021, Galleri Slätten, Sweden
2020 Jeune Création Européenne 2019-2021, Biennale D’ArtContemporain in Centrul de Interes, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
ReA Milan Art Fair - Emerging Artists, Milan, Italy
Artist Residencie A Conversa, Galleria do Sol, Porto,Portugal
Jeune Création Européenne 2019-2021 in Biennale D’ArtContemporain, Science and Art Center “Brewery”, Cēsis, Latvia
Somewhere New in Project Krudebrude e.V., Leipzig, Germany
Window Display in Fonda Space Leipzig, Germany
Curated For Covid in online (UK Initiative)
I Am a Calm Person, but I Get Anger Bursts in Lisbon,Portugal
Online Residency MODS VIRTUAL LAB
Exhibition With Us, online (Portuguese Initiative)
Jeune Création Européenne 2019-2021, Biennale D’ArtContemporain, The Art
Building in Vrå, Hjørring, Denmark
Acto Isolado, Private Curatorial Residence, Porto, Portugal
A Conspiração da Arte, Zet Gallery, Braga, Portugal
2019 Exchange Project PORTO – LEIPZIG Art under Condition:Post / Colonialism Coordinated by
Miguel Leal and Andreas Broeckmann, Porto, Portugal
Artistic Residence WORKOUT THINKLOUD, Fundação da Juventude,Porto
Artistic Residence “PSSSSS” Open Studio Exhibition, DeLiceiras,Porto, Portugal
Exhibition Eventually - Painting Graduation, Museu FBAUP,Porto, Portugal
Exhibition Jeune Création Européenne 2019-2021, BienalleD’Art Contemporain in Beffroi de Montrouge, Paris, France
Reset unsettling flesh layers, Alte Handelsschule, Leipzig,Germany
Artist Talk Resetunsettling flesh layers, Alte Handelsschule, Leipzig, Germany
Overwhelmed Incorporeal Happiness, PilotenkuecheInternational Artistic Residencie, Leipzig, Germany
2018 Festival APARTE, C.C. Cedofeita, Porto,Portugal
2017 Estéreo.Utopias Collective D-FRENTE, GaleriaOitavo, Porto, Portugal
Dejá-Vu Collective D-FRENTE, Antigo Hospital Maria-Pia,Porto, Portugal
YES NO, CACE, Porto, Portugal
Drawing in Uncertainty, Museu FBAUP, Porto, Portugal
2016 Images of the Interior Body, Rectory University ofPorto, Portugal
In.formalities Collective D-FRENTE, Galeria Oitavo, Porto,Portugal
AWARDS
2021, Prize XVII D. Fernando II from Museu Municipal de Sintra
2020, Nomination as Fine Arts Acquisition Year 2019 Prize, FBAUP, Porto, Portugal
2019-2021, Nomination as Representive Portuguese Artist in Jeune Création Européenne, Bienalle D’Art Contemporain
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