Enrique Martinez Celaya

Enrique Martínez Celaya
Martínez Celaya in 2020
Born (1964-06-09) June 9, 1964 (age 60)
Havana, Cuba
EducationCornell University (B.S. 1986)
University of California, Berkeley (M.S. 1988)
University of California, Santa Barbara (M.F.A. 1994)
Known forPainter, sculptor, author, educator
StyleContemporary
Spouse
Alexandra Williams
​
​
(m. 1999; div. 2015)​
Dr. Stacy A. Cohen
​
(m. 2023)​
Websitemartinezcelaya.com

Enrique Martínez Celaya (born June 9, 1964) is a contemporary Cuban-born painter, sculptor, author, and former physicist whose work has been exhibited and collected by international institutions.[1] He trained and worked as a laser physicist, completing all coursework for his doctorate, before devoting himself full-time to his artwork. He holds master's degrees in physics and fine arts and has authored books on art and philosophy and science articles.[2]

He is currently a Montgomery Fellow at Dartmouth College and the Provost Professor of Humanities and Arts at USC.

Early life and education

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Martínez Celaya was born on June 9, 1964, in Havana, Cuba, and spent his early childhood in Nueva Paz and Los Palos, Cuba.[3][4][5][6][7][8] His family relocated to Madrid, Spain in 1972. While there, he took up drawing at the age of eight.[9][10][11][12] In 1975, the family relocated again, this time to Puerto Rico.[11] He initiated his formal training as an apprentice to a painter at the age of 12 and developed his early interest in writing and philosophy.[13]

In 1982, he enrolled at Cornell University.[9][11] He graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Applied Physics and a minor in Electrical Engineering in 1986.[14][9] He was selected as a Regent's Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, and earned a Master of Science degree with a specialization in Quantum Electronics[11] While there, he patented several laser devices.[14][9][10][11][15] He later enrolled in the M.F.A. program at the University of California, Santa Barbara and graduated with highest honors in 1994.[14][9] After graduation, he attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine.[9]

Career

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About his interest in literature, Martínez Celaya states, “Reading is a primary source for my work." I read philosophy and literature and that is the universe I see my work in, even though I'm a visual artist. ... Often when artists talk about writers, they're talking about them as source of content. I'm reading them for a moral stance in the world.”[16]

Martínez Celaya has created solo museum exhibitions for the Hispanic Society Museum & Library in New York City (2024),[17] the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Havana, Cuba (2023),[18] and the Marino Marini Museum in Florence, Italy (2023).[19] He has also created projects for the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California (2021),[20] The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. (2016),[21] and the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia (2012).[22]

From 2007 to 2009, Martínez Celaya wrote a blog on his website with a selection of entries published as The Blog: Bad Time for Poetry (Whale & Star, 2010).[23] Since 2012, the blog has continued in the form of journal entries on the artist's website.[24] The University of Nebraska Press published a twenty-year survey of his writings in 2011, entitled Collected Writings and Interviews, 1990-2010, which was more recently followed by a second volume, Collected Writings and Interviews, 2010-2017.[25] Martínez Celaya published a selection of lecture notes from his popular workshops, entitled On Art and Mindfulness: Notes from the Anderson Ranch (Whale & Star, 2015), in collaboration with the Anderson Ranch Art Center in Snowmass, Colorado. Martínez Celaya founded Whale and Star in 1998, an imprint specializing in art and its relationship to other intellectual and creative fields, especially literature, philosophy, and critical theory.

Academia

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Martínez Celaya is currently Provost Professor of Humanities and Arts at USC (2017–present) in Los Angeles and, since 2014, a Montgomery Fellow at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.[26][1] He was the Roth Family Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Dartmouth (2016-2017).[27] He was Visiting Presidential Professor in the history of art at University of Nebraska (2007–2010), and an associate professor of art at Pomona College[9] and the Claremont Graduate University (1993-2003).

In 2010, Martínez Celaya inaugurated The Lecture Project, funded with assistance from the Knight Foundation. The original programming presented lectures from academics and art critics until late 2012. In 2019, in collaboration with USC Dornsife The Lecture Project was re-launched and is currently hosting programming from Martínez Celaya's Los Angeles Studio.[28]

Awards and honors

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Martínez Celaya was awarded the Brookhaven National Laboratory Fellowship (1986–1988) and was an Interdisciplinary Humanities Fellow and Regents Fellow from the University of California (1992–94). He received Los Angeles County Museum of Art's Young Talent Award (1998), the Hirsch Grant (2002), the Rosa Blanca Award from the Cuban Community (2002), and the California Community Foundation Fellowship, Getty Foundation Award (2004). He was honored with the Inaugural Colorado Contemporary Arts Collaborative Artist Residency at the CU Art Museum, sponsored by Kent and Vicki Logan (2004), and received the Anderson Ranch Arts Center's National Artist Award (2007).[1] In 2020, Martínez Celaya was awarded a Doctor Honoris Causa from Otis College of Art and Design.[29] He was invited to give the college's commencement address the same year, and in 2021 joined the Otis College Board of Governors.[30] In 2021, Martínez Celaya also became the inaugural fellow of the Robinson Jeffers Tor House Foundation.[31]

Personal life

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Martínez Celaya married Alexandra Williams, the daughter of American journalist Christian Williams, in 1999.[32][33] They have four children together.[34] They later divorced in 2015.[35] In 2023, Martínez Celaya married the psychiatrist Stacy A. Cohen.[36][37]

Martínez Celaya lives and works in Los Angeles, California.[38]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "CV - Enrique Martínez Celaya" (PDF). martinezcelaya.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 15, 2024. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
  2. ^ "Enrique Martínez Celaya with Eleanor Heartney". The Brooklyn Rail. 2021-03-09. Retrieved 2023-07-13.
  3. ^ "The Prophet: Can Enrique Martinez Celaya Be That Guy?" (PDF). www.michaelslenske.com.
  4. ^ "Enrique Martínez Celaya". lalouver.com. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
  5. ^ "Enrique Martinez Celaya, The Tower of Snow". Hermitage Museum.
  6. ^ "Distance | Denver Art Museum". www.denverartmuseum.org. Retrieved 2021-03-22.
  7. ^ "Enrique Martinez Celaya" (PDF). Parafin Gallery.
  8. ^ "Enrique Martínez Celaya: From Cliché to Archetype". www.artealdia.com. Retrieved 2021-03-22.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Harth, Marjorie. "Portrait of the Artist: Enrique Martínez Celaya". Archived from the original on September 10, 2005. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
  10. ^ a b Finkel, Jori (November 21, 2008). "Layers of Devotion (and the Scars to Prove It)". The New York Times. New York City. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
  11. ^ a b c d e Gonzalez, Gaspar (December 2005). "The Escape Artist" (PDF). Boca Raton. Boca Raton, Florida. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
  12. ^ Trueblood Brodzky, Anne (1999). Unbroken Poetry: The Work of Enrique Martínez Celaya. Whale & Star Press. p. 26.
  13. ^ "BIOGRAPHY - ENRIQUE MARTINEZ CELAYA". www.martinezcelaya.com. Retrieved 2019-08-02.
  14. ^ a b c "ENRIQUE MARTÍNEZ CELAYA". Retrieved August 27, 2015.
  15. ^ "Contact laser delivery probe". Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  16. ^ "Enrique Martinez Celaya's 'Notes From the Anderson Ranch' | AspenTimes.com". The Aspen Times. 23 June 2015. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
  17. ^ Article, Eileen Kinsella ShareShare This (2024-05-08). "Enrique Martínez Celaya's Studio Is a Monastic Laboratory Where Art, History, and Science Percolate". Artnet News. Retrieved 2024-05-24.
  18. ^ Tribuna. "Enrique Martínez Celaya, el regreso". www.tribuna.cu (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-05-24.
  19. ^ Cerullo, Sophia (May 30, 2023). "Enrique Martínez Celaya at Museo Marino Marini".
  20. ^ "Enrique Martínez Celaya puts his mark on the Los Angeles map". The Art Newspaper - International art news and events. 2022-02-18. Retrieved 2024-05-24.
  21. ^ "One-on-One: Enrique Martínez Celaya | The Phillips Collection". www.phillipscollection.org. 2016-10-13. Retrieved 2024-05-24.
  22. ^ "Enrique Martinez Celaya: The Tower of Snow". hermitage museum.org. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
  23. ^ "The Blog". Nebraska Press. Retrieved 2022-08-23.
  24. ^ "JOURNAL - ENRIQUE MARTINEZ CELAYA". www.martinezcelaya.com. Retrieved 2022-08-23.
  25. ^ "Enrique Martínez Celaya". Nebraska Press. Retrieved 2022-08-23.
  26. ^ "Artist Enrique Martínez Celaya named first Provost Professor of Humanities and Arts at USC". 25 May 2017.
  27. ^ "Enrique Martínez Celaya Named Roth Distinguished Visiting Scholar | Dartmouth Now". Archived from the original on 2016-06-30. Retrieved 2016-06-30.
  28. ^ "ABOUT". The Lecture Project. Retrieved 2019-04-06.
  29. ^ "Honorary Doctorate Citation and Certificate" (PDF). Retrieved 2021-06-16.
  30. ^ "Otis College Announces Enrique Martínez Celaya as Newest Member of the Board of Governors". Otis College of Art and Design. Retrieved 2021-06-17.
  31. ^ "Artist/thinker Enrique Martínez Celaya kicked off a new program at Tor House. The result of his immersion in the writing and architecture of poet Robinson Jeffers is now on display". Monterey County Weekly. 2022-05-19. Retrieved 2023-07-14.
  32. ^ Williams, Christian (June 11, 2006). "AN EVER WIDER WORLD / Enrique Martínez Celaya". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
  33. ^ Greenwood, Chelsea (November 2009). "Art of Conversation" (PDF). Boca Raton. Boca Raton, Florida: 118–123. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
  34. ^ Greenwood, Chelsea. "Art of Conversation" (PDF).
  35. ^ cocksedge, frances (2019-11-06). "Enrique Martínez Celaya Takes the Road Less Traveled". Artillery Magazine. Retrieved 2023-07-14.
  36. ^ Keenan, Stefanie (October 28, 2023). "Stacy Cohen and Enrique Martinez Celaya Attend Friendly House 33rd Annual Awards Luncheon". Getty Images for Friendly House.
  37. ^ Martínez Celaya, Enrique (August 10, 2023). "Wedding Photos". Instagram.
  38. ^ Slenske, Michael (April 5, 2015). "The Prophet: Can Enrique Martínez Celaya Be That Guy?". Archived from the original on July 10, 2015. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
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