“Other Significance”
New Work, Individually and in Collaboration, by Brandi Kole and
Rock CYFI Martinez
Public Opening: Thursday, September 14, 5-8 p.m.
Exhibition Closes: Thursday, October 26
ST. PAUL, MN—NewStudio Gallery, in St. Paul’s Creative Enterprise Zone, is thrilled to welcome Tucson- and Minneapolis-based artists Brandi Kole and Rock CYFI Martinez in their first collaborative exhibition, “Other Significance.” Brandi Kole, a mixed-fiber artist, and Rock Martinez, an internationally known aerosol artist, are married to each other and married to their work. In “Other Significance” they explore the intersection of their identities and approaches to art making.
“Other Significance” opens with a public reception on Thursday, September 14, from 5-8 p.m. at NewStudio Gallery. The exhibition closes Thursday, August 31. Concurrently, the Chroma Zone Pop-Up Exhibit also opens Thursday, September 14, from 5-8 p.m. at NewStudio Gallery, featuring past and present muralists of St. Paul’s Chroma Zone Mural & Art Festival, with works of art available for purchase. Martinez is a Chroma Zone mural artist.
Kole's work as a mixed-fiber artist delves into complex themes of identity, gender, and sexuality. Through her innovative use of materials and techniques, Kole offers a fresh take on the fiber arts by creating works that are both contemporary and timeless. Her pieces invite viewers to engage with the depth and complexity of the female experience, defying conventional notions of domestic practices and the societal expectations attached to them.
Martinez creates large-scale site-specific works (including in the Creative Enterprise Zone) that explore the cultural, social, and political dynamics of our world. His body of work challenges and subverts dominant narratives and power structures, and seeks to uplift the voices and experiences of communities who have traditionally been marginalized by society.
While the couple collaborates conceptually almost every day in their shared studios, this exhibition marks their first time developing a new body of work together. "Other Significance" includes new work by the individual artists, but the couple's distinct styles and techniques interweave seamlessly in their collaborative pieces, creating a harmonious whole reflecting the intimacy fueled by their creative partnership.
“The show is about ourselves, about our relationship to each other, and about our craft,” Kole explains. “We’ve been together for more than 10 years, and we’ve worked on every artwork together, but never on a piece that visually represents the both of us and signifies the ongoing creative cycles of our relationship.” One large collaborative piece, inspired by the artwork of MC Escher, encapsulates how the two artists are “overlapping and underlapping” each other: Pictorial representations of their hands intertwine their inspirations as “Brandi is sewing over my spray paint and I’m spray painting over her sewing,” Martinez explains.
The couple hopes to include up to five large collaborative works in the exhibition, merging their aesthetic considerations and concerns. “I can only go so big with my sewing,” says Kole, while “Rock usually works on a massive scale with his murals.” Kole adds that she doesn’t plan her work in advance, “I like the organic nature of what occurs,” while Martinez “likes clean detailed work well-planned in advance.”
“Doing this collaborative work at this point in time,” says Martinez, “is exciting and a little crazy, but we’re diving into the experience.” That includes engineering a new tip for his aerosol cans, Martinez explains, “so I can achieve marker-thin lines with spray paint for the smaller-scale work and achieve a lightness while keeping my graffiti background and culture.”
Brandi Kole
Brandi Kole studied painting, drawing, and mixed-media applications at the University of Arizona where she earned her BFA. Coming from generations of matriarchs, Brandi learned to work with fiber early in life from her grandmother and mother. These practices inspired Kole to combine embroidery with collage-style painting to create mixed-media fiber works. Kole’s work is characterized by loose loops of thread and torn paper that evoke a sense of emotional femininity and raw energy. The images include themes of identity, gender, and sexuality that challenge how we assign value to traditional domestic practices. Kole has studios in Minneapolis, MN and Tucson, AZ.
Rock Martinez
Rock “CYFI” Martinez is an international aerosol artist whose work draws on the social, cultural, and natural history of site -pecific surfaces. Martinez was raised in Tucson, Arizona where he was first exposed to public art through the murals that lined the Community Project complex where his family lived. As a self-taught artist, he developed his craft by learning alongside other graffiti writers in his community. This grassroots education and the trials that come from working in a street-culture medium influenced his understanding of public places and spaces--namely who they are for, and by extension, who was not welcome. Throughout his body of work, Martinez explores this tension and seeks to amplify the voices and narratives of those who have been disenfranchised and marginalized throughout history. From large-scale public murals to site-specific installations, his work engages with subjects ranging from pop culture, to religion, to technology addiction, and civil rights. He often draws inspiration from his Mexican-American cultural heritage and works across cultural boundaries and the challenges that communities face today. He pushes ideas to extremes and uses public art as a tool for social change. Martinez keeps a studio in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Tucson, Arizona.
Exhibition events are free and open to the public.
Artworks from “Other Significance” and Chroma Zone Pop-Up are available for purchase from NewStudio Gallery.
For more information or images, to arrange a studio visit, or to schedule an interview with Rock Martinez or Brandi Kole, please contact Camille LeFevre, NewStudio Gallery Director, clefevre@newstudioarchitecture.com, 651-285-2287.