Concrete Echoes
September 9th – September 30th, 2023
NEW YORK CITY – Harman Projects is pleased to present Concrete Echoes, a solo exhibition by Norwegian artist Martin Whatson. This will be the artist’s first solo presentation with the gallery.
From his beginnings in Norway’s nascent graffiti scene in the early ’90s to his countless international large scale murals Martin Whatson is recognizable to appreciators of public art the world over. Immediately recognizable for his mixed media paintings featuring grey-scale stenciled subjects cohabiting space with layers of colorful graffiti, Whatson’s work lives in a state of constant contrast. Not only does the artist visually combine the worlds of street art and graffiti harmoniously, but his work on the street and his work in the studio both serve to inform one another.
A key element to Whatson’s work stems from his interest in the human desire to leave one’s mark on the world around them. In The Poster (pictured above) a male figure wheatpastes a graffiti covered poster to a barren grey wall. This application of art to a wall loosely references the artist’s own public art practice while directly reflecting the work of many of his peers in the greater street art movement. It also speaks to the stratification of public art by combining somewhat the disparate schools of graffiti, street art, muralism, stencilism and wheatpasting, recontextualizing and presenting these scenes through a contemporary art lens .
As the birthplace of modern graffiti, New York City is the perfect place to host an exhibition like Concrete Echoes. The title symbolizes the back and forth between street art and fine art, between inspiration and execution, hardness and softness; Concrete Echoes furthers the conversations about ownership of the public space, creation versus destruction, and of the fragility of nature.
Please join us Saturday, September 9th at 210 Rivington Street, New York, NY for the opening reception of Concrete Echoes from 6pm to 8pm. The artist will be in attendance and light refreshments will be served.
WHAT:
Martin Whatson
“Concrete Echoes”
WHERE:
Harman Projects
210 Rivington Street
New York, NY 10002
WHEN:
Opening Night Reception:
Saturday, September 9th 2023
6:00pm – 8:00pm
Exhibition On View:
September 9th – September 30th, 2023
RELEVANT LINKS:
Harman Projects: https://www.harmanprojects.com
Martin Whatson: https://www.martinwhatson.com
ABOUT THE GALLERY:
Harman Projects was founded in 2022 by curator and gallerist Ken Harman. Our goal is to provide an inclusive and welcoming environment to foster a community of likeminded artists, collectors, and art lovers in New York City and beyond.
Our focus at Harman Projects lies mainly in the New Contemporary genre, encompassing historical movements such as New York City graffiti and SoCal pop- surrealism as well as contemporary schools of art such as Bay Area abstracted realism, international muralism and Japanese-inspired SuperFlat.
ABOUT THE ARTIST:
Martin Whatson is a Norwegian street artist best known for his calligraphic scribbles in grayscale voids. Over the past decade, Martin has developed an unmistakable aesthetic combining abstract movement with figurative stenciled compositions. His works can be seen to mirror the rise and fall of the streets, as he symbolically recreates the urban environment, then vandalizes it to reveal his vibrant transformations.