About the ArtistMartin Webb is an English-born artist, currently based in San Francisco. Although he is primarily a painter, Martin also makes prints, sculptural objects, murals, public and commissioned art. The artist’s intention is to create evocative, resonant images that can recall common feelings and memories.
Webb came to the East Bay Area in 2003. He was already a high school art teacher for several years in England, when he decided to come on a one-year teacher exchange to the United States, where he taught at Hogan High in Vallejo. Determined to make a change, Martin started working as a designer and installer for The Concretist, a small company specialized in creative decorative concrete floors.
Over the course of years, Webb has developed a simple visual language of abstract shapes, patterns, representational symbols and figures. The artist usually works on multiple paintings simultaneously, focused on color, composition, and materials. Martin’s aversion to art stores consequently led to his affection towards construction materials – cement, industrial pigments, reclaimed wood, and found metal objects. He also mixes his own paint from acrylic, pigments and cement compound to make a paint that can be used in different consistencies. By repeatedly layering the paint, he creates rich textured surfaces and sands particular areas of a painting.
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