Sue Martin’s compelling and personal art works on exhibition

By CityLife Arts Writer

Candice Berman Gallery in Riverside, Bryanston, is currently hosting an exhibition of artist Sue Martin’s body of work, entitled Monoprints. Johannesburg based artist, Martin, has been honing her painting and printmaking skills since the 1980s when she completed a BA Fine Arts degree at the University of Natal in Pietermaritzburg (now University of KwaZulu-Natal).

Martin boldly engages and experiments with a variety of techniques and media to produce her compelling, as well as, deeply personal artworks. Her skilful manipulation of composition and typography adds texture to her work, while simultaneously paying homage to her previous career in advertising.

Martin sees her artistic practice as a journey, through which she explores aspects of her lived experience and her personal identity, against a wider historical backdrop.
In the intervening twenty years since Martin’s first solo exhibition in 1999, she has participated in numerous group exhibitions and Art Fairs across South Africa. In addition, Martin has produced several successful solo exhibitions that have established her as prominent feature in the South African art market. In 2010, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) recognised Martin’s work and acquired the series Urban Cowboys (2009) for its permanent collection.

Moreover, earlier this year, the Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce (JCCI) added a selection of paintings and prints, from Martin’s series The Cartographer’s Notes (2020), to its permanent collection. Martin has also been invited by Mark Attwood to participate in the prestigious residency at The Artists’ Press towards the middle of 2020.
Working from her Johannesburg-based studio, Martin continues to exhibit her work extensively with various galleries such as Knysna Fine Art, In Toto Gallery, Artist Proof Studio and The White River Gallery. Most recently her work was selected for exhibition at Design Joburg and Grande Provence, Franschoek.  This year Martin’s work was featured by The White River Gallery at the Turbine Art .Fair.

.Monoprints by Sue Martin is currently on at Candice Berman Gallery in Riverside Shopping Centre, Bryanston.