MARTIN ROLLINS BIO
WORDS BY BRYAN WARREN ON MARTIN ROLLINS AND HIS WORK:
Among the creative paths afforded visual artists some revisit subject matter, and techniques as the means to explore their world. In doing so, an artist can focus on seeing a subject in deep nuanced ways such as Monet’s repeatedly painting his garden at Giverny. Louisvillian Martin Rollins is another such artist, and his well-established subjects of home and neighborhood shine through lush layers of mark making and color, in techniques he has honed over the years.
The artworks in this exhibit are not a radical departure from his previous themes but are a deepening of them. Rollins is searching for new layers of meaning within the same subjects: whether a tree, a neighborhood street, or a pond, he finds ways to reinterpret these spaces by tweaking the surface or subject matter in new and unexpected ways. This "new familiar" represents an ongoing exploration of how time, memory, and experience reshape the familiar landscapes of his life.
Rollins’ reinterpretations are informed by a disciplined artistic practice of sketching, working-out compositions, and ways of prepping surfaces. These routines ground his process and allow his creative process to unfold naturally without a predetermined endpoint. This is what keeps the act of creation alive and engaging for him, providing new insights into himself and his subjects.
There is a gamble in this approach - a risk of not knowing exactly how a piece will turn out. Rollins is challenged to know when a piece is finished, recognizing the delicate balance between overworking a piece and leaving it in its freshest state. This tension between control and spontaneity is central to his work, as he strives to bring the final work to its conclusion.
This artist’s approach is married to his deep sensitivity to light and how its qualities change throughout the day and seasons, how the quality of light can transform the landscape, and by the drama light holds at dusk or dawn. In several pieces capturing the later hours of the day, a sense of dusk seems to carry more weight as Rollins contemplates not only the physical aspects of light but also its symbolic meaning.
This subtle change in light is a meditation on time itself and how the transition of light mirrors the transitions in life. These may be seen as a metaphor for life’s stages, where the intensity of experience is most poignant at the beginning and the end, just as light is most striking at those same moments.
For Rollins, these evening scenes symbolize a psychological distance, and he allows “The subject matter is a little further away from me” - an admission that these works are not only always about capturing a particular physical landscape but also about reflecting a more introspective mood.
In this exhibition Rollins is creating a new familiar, where those places he has so often visited in his work become fresh and new through the lens of time and experience. His artistic process is one of continual discovery, marked by a willingness to embrace uncertainty and follow the creative journey wherever it may lead. With this new work Rollins is inviting viewers to reflect on the world with fresh eyes and to appreciate the beauty and complexity of those places so familiar to each of us.
Bryan Warren is an artist, independent curator, friend, and all-around wonderful human being who lives in Louisville, Kentucky.
Here to There
A year or two back home, after I left graduate school and began sorting
things out, I came to artistic terms with myself as an easel painter.
Working with traditional subject matter in both my studio and in the
plein-air manner, somewhere along the line I was labeled a "realist
painter’.
This never sat well with me, as I feel my artistic process is more like a
writer than an artist who looks to only recreate what I can see around me.
I have always had as my intent to be an observer who gleans and attempts
to express my experiences of life through visual terms. From those
sources, I edit and attempt to craft something new. In the way a writer
uses language to create a novel from their own experiences and
observations, I bring together the visual elements of art to create a
visual narrative of mine. So, while the artwork may have the appearance of
"real life" - the works contain conceits, ironies, and personal musings
separate from the details of the visible world.
The title of this exhibit Here to There references the internal journey of
my artistic process from bringing what is percolating within in me
creatively to what is realized on the surface of these respective
artworks. Yes, I am most certainly inspired by light, color, or mood of
something I observe in the world – but initial impressions are at the very
least married, if not eclipsed, by what they evoke in me or what happens
when the artwork is underway.
Although the assembled works in this exhibition are distinctly varied,
they are connected through a certain point-of-view in each work – so in
looking from one place to another set-place there is also a visual dynamic
of “from here to there”.
In creating these works it was not as important to me to have them
stylistically aligned as it was to have each work reflect what moved me to
create each image. The purposely selected color motifs, and the painting
and drawing techniques I employed, - all proceed from what I was after in
the different works. It is in the space between what inspires me and the
final developed image where I find the story I wish to portray.
EDUCATION
1987 Master of Fine Arts, University of Cincinnati, Painting and Drawing (Studied with Robert Knipschild)
1981 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Louisville School of Art, Painting (Studied with Mary Ann Currier)
Postgraduate work: University of Louisville, Brooklyn College, Art Students League, Harvard University
GRANTS
1997 Kunst in der Stadt, Mainz, Germany, Louisville Sister Cities Artist Exchange
1982-1992 Kentucky Arts Council, Frankfort, KY; Artist in Residence Grants
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019 "A New Familiar,” WheelHouse Art, Louisville, KY
2021 “Here to There,” WheelHouse Art, Louisville, KY
2019 “Four Seasons,” B. Deemer Gallery, Louisville, KY
2017 “Town & Country,” B. Deemer Gallery, Louisville, KY
2016 “New Works,” B. Deemer Gallery, Louisville, KY
2015 “This, That and the Other,” The Jewish Community Center, Louisville, KY
2013 “Close to Home,” B. Deemer Gallery, Louisville, KY
2011 “Oil Pastels by Martin Rollins,” B. Deemer Gallery, Louisville, KY
2009 “Recent Works,” B. Deemer Gallery, Louisville, KY
2007 “Oil Pastels,” B. Deemer Gallery, Louisville, KY
2005 “A Sense of Place,” B. Deemer Gallery, Louisville, KY
2004 “Travelogue,” B. Deemer Gallery, Louisville, KY
1991-2002 “Recent Works,” B. Deemer Gallery, Louisville, KY
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2019 “Contemporary Portraits of the Ohio River Invitational,” B. Deemer Gallery, Louisville, KY
2004 “SUTHERLAND GALLERY GROUP SHOW,” Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, Louisville, KY
2002 “9-11 EXHIBITION,” Louisville Visual Art Association, Louisville, KY (Juried)
“KENTUCKY ARTISTS,” Kentucky State Capitol, Frankfort, KY (Invitational)
2000 ‘CITYSCAPES,’ The Sutherland Gallery, Bardstown, Kentucky
‘MARY ANDERSON CENTER,’ Actor’s Theater of Louisville (Invitational)
‘CFAC ALUMNI EXHIBITION,’ Louisville Visual Art Association (Invitational)
1997 ‘THE NUDE SHOW’ Lexington Art League, Lexington, KY
1996 ‘WATERSIDE ARTS FAIR,’ Louisville Visual Art Association, Louisville, KY
‘THE MALE NUDE’ Artswatch Gallery, Louisville, KY
1994 ‘LOUISVILLE DRAWING INVITATIONAL’ Louisville Visual Art Association and Mainz, Germany
1993 ‘TRANSITIONS’ Craft Exhibition, Headly-Whitney Museum, Lexington, KY
1992 ‘TOYS’ Morlan Gallery at Transylvania University, Lexington, KY (Invitational)
‘ARTSWATCH MEMBERS EXHIBITION’ Artswatch Gallery, Louisville, KY
‘JULY JURIED’ Floyd County Museum, New Albany, IN
1991 ‘THE LOUISVILLE SCENE’ Headly-Whitney Museum, Lexington, KY (Invitational)
1990 ‘REALISM TODAY’ Evansville Museum of Art and Science, Evansville, IN (Juried)
‘INTERIORS AND EXTERIORS’ Sewickley Academy, Sewickley, Pennsylvania (Invitational)
1989 ‘PENSIVE LANDS; LANDSCAPE THROUGH THE EYES OF FIVE CONTEMPORARY
ARTISTS,’ Knight-Gomez Gallery, Baltimore, MD (Invitational)
1989 ‘SHAWN LEE AND MARTIN ROLLINS EXHIBIT’ Campbellsville College, Campbellsville, KY (Invitational)
1999 ‘ANTI-UTOPIA EXHIBIT’ Bullet Exhibition Space, New York, NY (Invitational)
1988 ‘JULY JURIED’ Floyd County Museum, New Albany, IN
‘APPROPRIATIONS,’ Birke Gallery at Marshall University, Huntington, W VA (Invitational)
‘RECENT WORK; BROWN, NOLDE, ROLLINS AND SMITH’ Schneider Hall, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY (Juried)
‘ME; ARTIST’S SELF-PORTRAITS’ Liberty Gallery, Louisville, KY (Invitational)
1987 ‘APPROPRIATIONS,’ DBN Exhibition Space at 101 Wooster Street, NYC (Invitational)
‘MFA THESIS EXHIBITION’, Tangeman Gallery, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2012 “An Artist's Perspective: Martin Rollins,” Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church, Louisville, KY. Series of three presentations related to art and culture.
2006-2008 National Art Education Association National Conferences Facilitator, Museum Division’s Teacher Museum Exchange
1998-present Crescent Moon Studio, Louisville, KY, Director and Lead Instructor
2000-2008 JB Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY, Associate Curator of Education for School Programs
1995-2000 JB Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY, Associate Curator of Education: School and Family Programs
1994-95 Bloom Elementary, Louisville, KY, Artist in Residence, Instructor & Mural Painter
Academic year University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, Adjunct Instructor, Fine Arts
1992-95 Louisville Visual Art Association, Louisville, KY, Children’s Free Art Classes Instructor
1992-94 M L King, Jr. Elementary, Louisville, KY, Artist in Residence, Instructor
1989-95 Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts, Louisville, KY, Visual Arts Faculty
1982-92 Kentucky Arts Council, Frankfort, KY, Artist in Residence, Residencies throughout KY
1987-88 Academic year, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, Adjunct Instructor of Fine Arts,
1985-87 Academic years, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, Graduate Teaching Assistant
1982-92 Kentucky Arts Council, Frankfort, KY, Artist in Residence, throughout Kentucky
1983, 1985-1988 Kentucky Institute for the Arts In Education, Louisville, KY, Visual Arts Faculty
PARTICIPATING ARTIST IN ANTI-UTOPIA ARTIST BOOK in the collection of:
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
Museum of Modern Art, NYC
Pompidou Center, Paris, France
SELECTED COLLECTIONS:
Community Health Systems, Nashville, TN
River Road Asset Management, Louisville, KY
Siebert and Johnson, Louisville, KY
Thompson, Miller and Simpson, Louisville, KY
Greenbaum, Doll & McDonald, PLLC, Louisville, KY
Stock Yards Bank, Louisville, KY
Lockheed Martin Corporation, Bethesda, MD
Rudd Heart and Lung Center at Jewish Hospital, Louisville, KY
Crescent Hill Library, Louisville, KY
Brown Forman Corporation, Louisville, KY
Louisville Gas and Electric Corporation, Louisville, KY
Martin Marietta Corporation, Baltimore, MD
Lionel and Mary Ann Currier of Louisville, KY
Syncopated Dance Company, Lexington, KY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2011 Staff Picks by Jo Anne Triplett, LEO Weekly, Louisville, KY. April, pg. 2011
2011 Rollins Shares Streetscapes, On the Town by Elizabeth Kramer, The Courier-Journal, Louisville, KY. April 29th , Features, pg. D6
2011 Martin Rollins, Louisville Artist, interview by Scott Dowd, Arts-Louisville.com, Louisville, Ky. March, YouTube video
2011 Martin Rollins- Oil Pastels, self-published catalog to accompany exhibit at B. Deemer Gallery, poems by Martin Rollins, photos of artwork by Kenneth Hayden, Design by Mike Prather, Louisville, KY. March
2009 Ineffable: Literary Responses to the Visual Art of Martin Rollins, poetry by E.K. Larken, design and photography by Marilyn Motsch, Louisville, KY. Self-published to accompany exhibition, Recent Works, B. Deemer Gallery
2007 Familiar Becomes New in Martin Rollins’ Drawings, “Visual Arts- Review” by Jo Anne Triplett, LEO Weekly, Louisville, KY. December 5-11th , pg.28
2007 Neighborhoods/St.Matthews by Martha Elson, The Courier-Journal, Louisville, KY. Nov 14, P.15
2007 Building Programs for Schools: The Speed Listens to Students and Teachers, The Speed Art Museum Newsletter, Louisville, KY. Spring, pg. 3
2007 Martin Rollins, self-published catalog, essay by Maggie Meloy, design by Montage Creative, photographs of artwork by Kenneth Hayden, studio photograph by John Nation, Louisville, KY. November
2006 Honest Charm in Louisville Streets, by Leah Hawkins, Arts Across Kentucky, Lexington, KY. Spring, pg. 57
2003 Travelog, “Visual Arts- Review” by Jo Anne Triplett, LEO Weekly, Louisville, KY. Dec 3, pg. 26
2003 Martin Rollins/Travelog, essay by Albertus Gorman, Louisville, KY. self-published, November
2002 Mixed Media, profiles painter Martin Rollins, produced by Aaron Hutchings and Gary Pahler, KET- The Kentucky Network, Lexington, KY. October, archives episode #505
2002 Martin Rollins/Oil Pastels, essay by Mary Anne Currier, Louisville, KY. Self-published, March
2001 Portraits of the City, various artists photo essay in Louisville Magazine, Louisville, KY. “City Guide Issue”, January: Cover and pg. 9
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A Q&A with artist Martin Rollins
NOV 03, 2017
Martin Rollins (martinrollins.net) is one of the best-known artists in town, with a highly recognizable style. He’s also a teacher. Both of those jobs give him the right to stand on a soapbox and say, “People need to make a conscious effort to be in support of visual artists in the community. It’s very underserved.” Amen, brother.
LEO: What type of artist are you?
Martin Rollins: I am basically one of those kids who never stopped drawing. While other classmates moved on to sports, Cub Scouts or science kits, my interest remained with drawing with crayons on the good side of recycled copy paper. Over time that interest broadened to include painting and paper constructing, but, at heart, I remain most interested in drawing with colored artist crayons and drawing media.
Please explain your artistic process.
Much of what I develop into larger drawings usually proceeds from preliminary sketching and drawing. There may or may not be an obvious reference to what you find in my sketchbooks, but there is a direct relationship insofar as idea/inspiration development. From there, I am off and running, and where the drawing may develop is what keeps me engaged.
I like to work in brown Sharpie marker in my sketchbook as it makes me stand and deliver with what I am drawing. You can’t erase Sharpie, so you best have some idea of what you want to say before the marker’s tip hits the page. The drawings are laid down quickly, with a visceral and vigorous attitude. Stray marks or screw-ups are worked back in as I plunge ahead. I half know where I am going, and truly that’s the impetus for continuing the drawing.
After a drawing has lived in my sketchbook for a bit, I may then take it into a more developed drawing. I generally work in the 18-inches by 24-inches range, though few works are actually those dimensions. The surface for most drawings is hot press watercolor paper prepared with a watercolor wash or gouache. There may also be remnants of an earlier drawing that didn’t go the direction I’d hoped and that I then scraped off. I prefer the drawing surface toned rather than simply blank. As with people, those pages with a previous life are far more interesting to get to know.
Though I do work in oil pastels, I also work a lot with an artist crayon called NeoColor 1. A densely pigmented hard crayon, it affords me the sturdiness and color density in both my sketchbook work and as a preliminary layer drawing on larger pieces.
“Pennsylvania Ave.” by Martin Rollins
You have a solo exhibition coming up soon. What can viewers expect to see?
My exhibit at the B. Deemer Gallery will feature 16 works, primarily drawings but with a couple of oil paintings as well. The exhibit is titled ‘Town and Country’ as the subject matter features both urban architecture and more park-like or rural settings. The works range in size from 9-inches by 12-inches to about 24-inches by 48-inches. Some of the urban works are as close as the backyard, and several of the rural pieces from outside Lexington.
What’s on your art bucket list?
Traveling with my sketchbook, Sharpies and NeoColors. Destinations: Vienna, Austria to see the ‘Labors of the Months’ paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Return to Iceland to draw landscapes.
Is there a local artist you think is doing great work that hasn’t been noticed yet?
No one specific, but new artists are coming on the scene all the time. The woods are full of them. Look.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jo Anne Triplett is the contributing visual arts editor at LEO Weekly. She’s a past member of the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Public Art, was the content advisor on the Glassworks Building video, and has written for Louisville Magazine, Kentucky Homes and Gardens and the national publication Glass Craftsman. Jo Anne came to Louisville from Washington, D.C. where she worked as a researcher and writer for the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
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