MARTIN DURAZO
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
ideology for an exhibition
Disillusion/Systematic/Organization (M.O.) addresses contemporary domestic living with constructions of reordered familiar objects. In the rear of the gallery a tall framework, which resembles an ascending concert stage design, flows into a staggered stack of DJ equipment. In this monstrous network, delicately nuanced niches containing toys, plastic flowers and electrical cord entanglements are illuminated by various lighting fixtures and obscured by translucent Plexi planes. The installation segues across the gallery, and multiple events create complementary sensations. A sense of harmony emerges as the slick technical savvy of video and sound gadgetry is balanced by the raw energy of industrial clamps and thrown ninja stars. Durazo’s dense web of shifting structural poetry invites and mesmerizes.
Martin Durazo has exhibited nationally and internationally, notably in New York City Vienna, Mexico City, Amsterdam and Los Angeles. He received his M.F.A. in art from the University of California, Los Angeles, CA and his B.A. in Art and English Literature from Pitzer College, Claremont, CA
influences & favorites
bio
Education
1998 MFA, Art, University of California, Los Angeles, CA
1990 BA, Art and English Literature, Pitzer College, Claremont, CA
1988 London Internship Program for the Visual and Performing Arts, Boston University, London, England
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2006 Bigger Than, Bank, Los Angeles, CA
Soundtrack For a Funeral, MDF, Mexico City, (organized by RIM Magazine)
Disillusion/Systematic/Organization(M.O) University of LaVerne, LaVerne, CA
2005 Affirmation Juice, 667 Shotwell, San Francisco, CA
2004 organized living/ the precision of language, Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects
2003 disciplina, Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, Los Angeles, CA
2002 Fresh Air 100, Ben Maltz Gallery, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA
2001 Dreams of Children, Deep River, Los Angeles, CA
2000 Progress, Cherry, Venice, CA
1998 DIET, Lemon Sky, Los Angeles, CA
Suck It Up! (screening), Richard Heller Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
Cleaning, POST, Los Angeles, CA
Full Body Cavity Search, Dollhouse Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1996 Punishment (performance), POST, Los Angeles, CA
Selected Group Exhibitions and Performances
2004 "Certain Traces: Dialogue Los Angeles / Prague 2004, Pomona College Museum of Art
"New", Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, Culver City, CA
2003 Midas, Post, Los Angeles
ArtBasel MiamiBeach, with Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects
The Armory Show, New York, with Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects
Recliner, Cypress College Fine Art Gallery, Cypress, CA
2002 ArtForum Berlin, with Suite 106 and Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects
2001 Deperal, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Trust (performance), Andrew-Shire Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Somewhere in the Night, POST, Los Angeles, CA
Eclectic Mix, American Intercontinental University, Los Angeles, CA
2000 Under the Influence: New Art from Los Angeles, Kansas City Art Institute &
Plymouth College, Plymouth, MN
1999 POST-Millennium, POST, Los Angeles, CA
Acuna-Hansen, Los Angeles, CA
Sig-alert, Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, AZ
Sig-alert 2, California State-Fullerton, Fullerton,CA
Venus, ARC, Vienna, Austria
Flat-Filing, POST, Los Angeles, CA
One Night Stand, Park Plaza Lodge Hotel, Los Angeles, CA
1998 Open Container, Refusalon, San Francisco, CA
1997 One Night Stand, Farmer’s Daughter, Los Angeles, CA
The Big Wave, Andrew Shire, Los Angeles, CA
Reconsidering the Box, California State University, Los Angeles, CA
Afond 2 (performance), Andrew Shire, Los Angeles, CA
1996 Sportmart, Richard Heller Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
Artist as a Subject & Object, Cerritos College, Cerritos, CA
1995 Ink and Clay, California Polytechnic State University, Pomona, CA
1994 L.A. Gun Show, Julie Rico Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1992 Breaking Barriers, Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica, CA
Imagenes de la Frontera: Monotipia, Tijuana and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico
1990 China, LACE, Los Angeles, CA
New Visions, Casa de la Raza, Santa Barbara, CA
Visual Warfare, Self-Help Graphics, Los Angeles, CA
Bibliography
2005 Flash Art, August/ September, 2005
2002 Bastard, Chris, "Drive-by and reLAX...", RIM, No. 0, Spring 2002, pg.9
Harvey, Doug, "Styroforms", LA Weekly, April 19 - 25
Nys Dambrot, Shana, "Martin Durazo at Ben Maltz Gallery, Otis College", Artweek
Lombino, Mary-Kay, "Adult Entertainment", Ben Maltz Gallery, Otis College, exhibition catalog
2000 Thorson, Alica, "Under the Influence", The Kansas City Star, October 22
Harvey, Doug, LA WEEKLY, February 4 - 10, pg 47
Walsh, Daniela, "Martin Durazo", Art Forum - Santa Anan College Art Department Newsletter,
1999 Vanesian, Kathleen, "With Every Beat of Its Heat", 1999
Curated Exhibitions
2004 Midas, (Curated with Sherin Guirguis), POST, Los Angeles, CA
2003 "Systems of Interiors and Exteriors for Better Living", Pitzer College, Claremont CA
1997-2005 Director/Co-Founder, Miller Durazo Contemporary Artists Projects,L.A. CA
on the nightstand
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