Kris Martin

Kris Martin 1972 Kortrijk (Belgium) - lives and works in Mullem and Ghent The Belgian artist Kris Martin was born in 1972 in Kortrijk, province of West Flanders. After completing his studies in architecture, Kris Martin turned to art and soon gained international recognition as one of the most important conceptual artists of the present day. His oeuvre includes installations and objects as well as drawings, photographs and typefaces. The starting point of Kris Martin's works are mostly found objects and materials, which he sometimes modifies or adds to, initiating a shift in meaning that stimulates the viewer of the artwork to thought games and associations. "My brain is my studio" At the beginning of a work by Kris Martin is the intellectual approach, often literary references or a thought. The respective material of the realization is for Kris Martin only a vehicle, by means of which he gives form to the idea. Thus, the artist no longer needs his own studio for his conceptual reflections, because, as Kris Martin says, "my brain is my studio". Art as a stimulus to one's own reflection Kris Martin's works are intended to stimulate the viewer's own imagination to his own reflections; possible answers are only hinted at, never given or imposed. In doing so, the artist always succeeds not only in astonishing, but also in combining his objects with a shapely, aesthetic design, despite all their metaphysical and thoughtful depth. Kris Martin celebrates international success with exhibitions in renowned galleries and museums such as the White Cube in London, the K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen in Düsseldorf, the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, the Aspen Art Museum or the MoMA PS1 in New York. In 2011 and 2013 he participated in the Venice Biennale. In 2014, his works can be seen in a group exhibition at the Louvre in Paris. In 2020/21, the Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (SMAK) in Ghent will present the artist's first major retrospective in Belgium with the exhibition "Exit". Kris Martin lives and works in the city of Ghent and the small village of Mullen in the Belgian province of East Flanders.