Kris Martin

Kris Martin was born in 1972 in Kortrijk and is based in Ghent, Belgium. His work radiates intense experiences of the finite and transient, of life and death. In his works—which include installation, photography, drawing, script and sound—the artist discusses the presence of time, the power of imagination and memory, beauty and its terrors. He also inquires into the possibility of spirituality, eternity, religion and God. His work tends towards the melancholic, symbolic and romantic. The formal diversity and the material qualities of his objects are combined with austere conceptuality and playful elegance. Solo shows include The Magnificent Seven, CCA Wattis, San Francisco (2011), Aspen Art Museum, Aspen (2009) Marc Foxx, Los Angeles (2008), P.S.1, MoMA, New York (2007), Sies + Höke Galerie, Düsseldorf (2007) and Johann König, Berlin (2006). Group shows include Traces du sacré, Centre Pompidou, Paris (2008); Passengers, Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art, San Francisco (2007); Learn to Read, Tate Modern, London (2007); and Of Mice and Men: 4th Berlin Biennial for Contemporary Art (2006).