Jel Martinez: The Art of Removal

Jel Martinez’s paintings are inspired by the methodology of vandalism removal. Martinez observes how metropolitan clean-up crews destroy one art form while creating another. The artist constructs his paintings by combining earlier influences with a figurative style of painting referred to as “buffs”. “Buff” creates contemporary patterns that result in a post-modern aesthetic. Through his experience and study of modern day contemporary culture, he applies a new meaning of expressionism to his work. Martinez’s paintings are a recreation of multilayered walls that are seen in urban landscape.