Uno22: Eleven

UNO is ONE – A Selection of Art, Craft and Design to Celebrate Our First Birthday.

Tuesday 1st – Monday 28th November, Gallery Uno, 14A High Street, Seaford BN25 1PG WINTER OPENING TIMES: Mon – Sat 10am – 4pm, Wednesdays 11am – 2pm, CLOSED Sundays.

Happy birthday Gallery Uno!

A year on, the Sussex Arts Collective’s High Street gallery has evolved and matured, and continues to thrive with an ever-changing series of month-long exhibitions that a growing number of patrons and visitors have fully embraced. During UNO22 ELEVEN you won’t see fireworks but yet more dazzlingly impressive work befitting of the occasion. Since joining in August, Alejandro Martinez has become an immediate hit with his spectacular panoramic prints earning him the honour of being their featured exhibitor for November.

Alejandro Martinez –Fine Art Prints & Architect

Born in Granada, Alejandro first visited England in 2000 to visit his cousin who was working at the Park Lane Hotel, London. Having finished his architecture degree in Seville, he accepted a job at the hotel with accommodation enabling him to boast his first UK address as being in Mayfair and set about embracing the immense cultural life on offer. However, he decided to move to Brighton in 2007 having visited there at weekends. He was immediately awestruck by the proximity to the staggeringly beautiful countryside and coastline.

Throughout his childhood he was always drawn to the visual arts. Yet, it was only on the suggestion of a friend that he contemplated studying architecture. Ten years on, he graduated as a structural engineer, city planner and architect. His first position in the UK was with Rick Mather Architects. There he was involved in redesigning parts of the London Natural History Museum, producing visual proposals for exhibits such as the roaring T. rex, the skull of a Triceratops and the giant Blue Whale skeleton hanging in the Hintze Hall. In Brighton he has worked on residential schemes renovating homes for the better by optimising space, improving light and creating stunning staircases. He was greatly inspired by Le Courbusier, Alberto Campo Baeza, and Frank Lloyd Wright.

As an undergraduate he did exhibit artwork but it was only in Brighton where he found his creative drive. At first he produced small architectural sketches that he sold informally and later recreated them as digital prints with additional blocks of colour. The essence of his work remains the same today, although more complex and layered. Primarily he is influenced by direct experiences of the natural world seen on his downland and coastal walks, but also the work of Samuel Palmer, Ravilious, Hockney and Slater.

Each piece begins with a monochrome ink drawing combined with printmaking techniques. He uses specialised paper with calligraphic brushes, fine-line pens, sponges, sandpaper, watercolour, ink and charcoal. Once complete ,he scans them, adding colour digitally and collates layers similarly to the plates of a lithographic print. It’s a meticulous process that takes up to a month. When it touches his soul he knows it is finished. Currently he is working on a piece with pheasants at Glyndebourne, echoing 18th- and 19th-century illustrations by James Audenon and Thomas Bewick.

He is a member of Studio Greenhouse cooperative where he has a working space. He is the resident artist with The West Pier Trust and runs life drawing sessions at the Arts Club, in Brighton. His motto is ‘Love life, love art’! Alej ez (Alejandro Martinez) Tel: 07946 381116 aljguez@gmail.com www.alejez.com