Brian Martinez wants to take you on an adventure. A member of the Scrambled Eggs artist collective, the local painter, sculptor, screen-printer and urban muralist presents a transcendent solo show in Cosmic Chicano, showing at Nuwu Art Gallery & Community Center through November 22 (with a closing reception talk by Martinez on November 21 at 6 p.m.).
Cosmic Chicano is an autobiography, “an exploration of Mexican American identity” and a burst of colorful, organic creativity, metaphorically viewed through a lucha libre mask—a signifier of Chicano pride, appearing in multiple pieces throughout. The themes expressed in Cosmic Chicano—autoethnography, Meso-American cosmology—are so enormous that many of the pieces run out of their frames, spilling their painted backdrops onto the walls themselves. Here, in his own words, Martinez takes the Weekly on a guided tour of his boundless universe.
"Tonantzin" acrylic on oil and wood
WHY THIS SHOW, NOW?
“I had a plan to have a solo exhibition every year, but at age 26 I stepped back from that goal and basically took a three-year hiatus from showcasing solo. That’s where Cosmic Chicano was born: I was like, let me just create without any pressure. And I started finding my intention, my voice and my natural output without overthinking it.
“I realized that I had these two parts of me. There’s the cosmic side; that’s the more spiritual. The Chicano part is the lived experience: Who can I connect with, and who has also lived the same experience as me? Cosmic Chicano brings these two parts of myself together.”
THERE ARE LUCHADOR MASKS EVERYWHERE. WHAT’S THAT ABOUT?
“Someone who visited the show recently said, ‘Oh, the luchador mask is like your lab coat.’ Art for me has always been like, ‘I want to learn about the world,’ and I love this idea that my luchador mask is my lab coat. I don’t actually wear a mask in the studio; it’s metaphorical. [Laughs.] With this exhibition, I’m starting with my own roots and my own culture and myself. The mask puts me into my work in a way where I’m not just doing a bunch of self-portraits. It’s kind of my lens into learning about Chicano history in America.
“In luchador and lucha libre culture … the luchador mask will sometimes pass down from person to person. It’s like you step into a persona. When I wear the mask at shows, it really feels like a persona, like I can escape myself. It’s almost like I blend into the work. I’m super shy, and it brings me out of my shell a little bit.”
CAN YOU EXPLAIN “ECLIPSING BINARIES?”
“I wanted a Mexican American visual piece to merge both cultures. … With this exhibition, I’m not directly screaming ‘f**k ICE,’ or ‘f**k this s**t.’ It’s like, we’re here, and there’s strength and there’s community. We’re not scared to be who we are.”
TELL US A BIT ABOUT “NIGHTMARE OF THE WORLD ENDING.”
“That piece holds like a special place for me, because it was my indicator that I was ready for another show. … [In May 2024] I was driving back from San Diego when my idea for ‘Nightmare of the World Ending’ came to me. It arrived so suddenly, and it was such an ‘aha’ moment, that I told my wife, ‘Give me your phone. I need to do an audio description of what I’m seeing right now.’ Eventually, we stopped and I sketched it out, and I was sketching that one out I had this rush of, like, ‘Okay, the show is ready. This is my starting point.’”
BRIAN MARTINEZ: COSMIC CHICANO Thru November 22, Thu.-Fri. 4-8 p.m.; Sat. noon-4 p.m., free. Nuwu Art Gallery &
Community Center, nuwuart.com.
Click HERE to subscribe for free to the Weekly Fix, the digital edition of Las Vegas Weekly! Stay up to date with the latest on Las Vegas concerts, shows, restaurants, bars and more, sent directly to your inbox!
