How it all began
Born in Santiago, Chile, Sergio Martinez grows into a cheeky dreamer. In the short summers of plums and cherries in the south of Chili, he falls in love with the warm and vibrant light of its fleeting landscapes and tries to apprehend them in his first paintings just before the gray and rainy days of the endless winter return.
He falls in love with the beauty and the scarce glimpses of freedom in the ultra-conservative society of that time, which might explain his obsession with the search for beauty and freedom that permeates his life and work. The grandeur of life, however, lies beyond the borders of Santiago…
The Next Chapter
As Sergio moved from his native Chili to Madrid in 2003, he also shifted his artistic preferences focusing on nudes and portraits. He managed to delve psychological aspects of his characters and create playful scenes. Although he had been studying the human form since the 1990s, his passion for fascinating figures and understanding their diversities grew evermore while living in vivid Madrid.
The world of dance, theater, acrobatics, and cabaret opens up before his eyes, and his attraction to these performing arts transcends that of a mere spectator – he becomes interested in getting to know the people behind these artists. “Whatever you have to say, whether simple or complicated, gets transformed into beauty when the gestures and movements of these magical performers say it visually.” With these exciting experiences always on his mind, Sergio remains curious and motivated for all adventures yet to come.
Sergio's world
Let us take you to Sergio’s studio and allow the sweet smell of turpentine and linseed oil to fill your senses. Feel the colors, deep as the darkest night or bright as a freshly bottled ray of sunshine, and let them enter your bloodstream. Reach out your hand to touch the meticulously prepared linen canvasses. Close your eyes and try to feel this.
Do this, and you will discover what Sergio experiences daily as soon as he sets foot in his studio. His fascination with the human psyche and the wonders of the human body is the essence of his work.
Masterpieces in the making
Sergio’s artwork also evolves from an exciting contrast between meticulous planning and an amazingly spontaneous artistic intuition, which he off-handedly explains as “I plan just enough to be creative.”
Friends with models and dancers alike, he also knows how to capture subtle emotions and dive deeper into the personality traits of these characters. Sergio uses his expertise and buoyant imagination to construct the perfect setting and atmosphere. His surroundings transform wonderfully into this newly created world, and everybody involved gets drenched in the story’s psychological and visual aspects.
Sergio Martinez is currently an IBEX Master with several certified Masterpieces owned and curated by the IBEX collection.
