Dani Marti is among Australia’s most exciting artists recently to have emerged to international acclaim, both charming and challenging audiences, curators, and critics with his unorthodox combination of hand-woven ‘canvases’ and video documentary. Connecting the two mediums is the concept of portraiture or, as Marti suggests, its inability to get beneath the surface of family, friends, lovers, and strangers. These psychological, sociological, emotional, and often graphic physical depictions push ethical boundaries, raising difficult questions about relationships, gay encounters, intimacy, and trust, while questioning the role of thee artist, the power of the video camera and the cultural politics of the viewer. With his woven works, Marti’s questioning turns to wider notions of portraiture and sexuality in Modernism, Minimalism, and geometric abstraction.
Read MoreDani Marti was born in Barcelona, Spain. He spends his time divided between Australia, Spain and Scotland. Since 1998, Marti has held over 25 solo exhibitions. Recent group exhibitions include - Let the Healing Begin, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane (2011) and Social Documents: The Ethics of Encounter, Stills Gallery, Edinburgh (2010); Vocal Thoughts, Contemporary Art Center of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, (2010); Cinema X: I like to Watch, Museum of Contemporary Art, Toronto (2010). Selected collections include the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney; The University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane and Art Bank, Sydney; Chartwell Collection, Auckland City Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand; University of Wollongong, New South Wales; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow ; Penny Clive Collection, Tasmania. In 2012 Hatje Cantz will be publishing a monograph on Dani Marti.
