L'île (Untitled 23042), 2023

Martin Reyna  

Martin Reyna was born in 1964 in Buenos Aires (Argentina).

In 1982, he starts his studies at the Faculty of Sociology. At the time, the university was dominated by a repressive atmosphere and a majority of students had ideas opposing those of the military regime. At the time or he must carry out his military service, then mandatory, the Falklands war is triggered. It is a theme that he will address in a small series of paintings of war.

From 1984, he has worked in the Zona, a refuge in the chic district of the city, a point of encounter between the artistic communities. It is here that Rafael Bueno presented the group "Los Pintores últimos incorporated" with Sergio Avello, Alejandro Of Ilzarbe, Jose Garófalo, Miguel Harte, Gustavo Marrone and Martin Reyna.

In 1985, Martin Reyna, Jose Garófalo, Duilio Pierri, Luis Pereyra and Armando Rearte paint the huge billboards of the Callao station of the Buenos Aires metro.

In 1991, he travelled to Paris to participate in an exhibition organized by Philippe Cyroulnik, called "The Buenos Aires Studio" and which included also Pablo Suãrez, Roberto Elia and Jorge Macchi.
He also travelled to London, where he discovered the paintings of William Turner and Gerhard Richter.

At the Chapelle de la Salpêtrière, he sees for the first time the work of Bill Viola and he is impressed by a video showing a silhouette disappearing under water, starting with a drop and ending in a mass of water diluting the human figure.
This sensation of dematerialization has always interested him and water is a constant element in his painting.

Today he works between Buenos Aires and Paris.