Will Martyr Biography

Martyr's work is exceptional in its precision and attention to detail. He utilises a mixture of his own photography and found imagery to construct elegantly complex compositions. These images are edited digitally and then drawn onto the canvas. Each feature is masked off using tape and individual colours are mixed and then painted in multiple layers onto the surface. This painstaking process results in truly immaculate work.

Martyr's scenes, devoid of human presence, facilitate an exploration of our relationship with the domestic environment. Despite having been composed from found imagery, the paintings depict an ethereal, other-worldly utopia. The ideals of seductively sleek yet uninhabited domestic spaces conjure scenes of privilege, closely comparable to David Hockney’s paintings of Californian swimming pools of the 1960s.

Martyr is heavily inspired by the design and architectural movements of Bauhaus, blurring the line between art and architecture in his paintings. He is also influenced by Futurism and Vorticism, attempting to express the dynamism of the modern world with hard edged imagery that requires an economy of gesture.

Martyr’s debut solo show Wanderlust at Unit London in 2017 presented twenty large-scale paintings which considered how the mass-consumption of imagery affects our perception of reality. Martyr's second show at Unit London in 2018 showcased eight large-scale tondos, these were used to represent holistic notions of eternity. During Wanderlust Martyr was inspired by the compositions of early perspective pioneers of the fifteenth century, Paolo Uccello and Piero della Francesca. His artwork is placed in many high profile international private and corporate collections worldwide and much of his work is now undertaken via private commission.