16 Apr - Meet Bard Artist: Martin Katzoff
New York
Martin Katzoff is a printmaker and painter whose illustrated works are defined by a sense of abstraction, playfulness, color, incorporating mark-making and figurative characters.
Name: Martin Katzoff
Age: 28
Hometown: Providence RI.
Where you at now: Catskill NY
Graduation Year: 2018
Inspiration:
“I am a painter and printmaker and primarily create from a place of intuition. My work develops from a daily studio practice, which extends between the technical challenges of creating work and a deeper place of releasing energy. The cathartic elements of art making inspire me to spend as much time in the studio as possible. Through my work I feel as though I can connect more with my humanity and the universe at large. I hope that my art allows people to become lost in a world of their own individual interpretations while also playing off a collective understanding within the nature of each piece.”
If you could only draw/paint in a single shade, what would it be?
Cobalt Blue
Friends or Seinfeld?
Curb your Enthusiasm
Favorite packaged snack?
Valencia Peanuts
If you could live in any city in the world, what would it be? San Francisco
If you could only draw/paint in a single shade, what would it be? Cobalt Blue
Watercolors or paints? Pens or pencils? Watercolors
Favorite museum in the U.S.? American Visionary Art Museum
Best restaurant you’ve visited in the past year? Gracie’s Luncheonette “ Leeds NY”
What’s your guilty pleasure late-night meal? Grilled Cheese
Favorite store/boutique in New York? Mariebelle, Chocolate shop
Favorite landmark in New York? The Metropolitan Museum of Art
What’d you eat for breakfast this morning? Rice cakes, peanut butter and banana
If you could only eat either sweet or savory the rest of your life, which would you choose and why? Savory
Favorite activity other than art? walking and exploring in nature.
What was your first job? Washing dishes
Are you a morning or night person? Morning and night
Best ice cream flavor? mint chocolate chip
Most inspiring moment as an artist? Going back to school after a long Hiatus
What is your preferred medium? Why?
There are infinite ways a painting can develop and surprise me. Oil paint has the deepest and most lushious color, also it lends room for maneuvering within the piece because it takes so long for the paint to set.
Which objects, people, and places do you most find inspiration in?
Ancient art and civilizations. There are thousands of years worth of extensive art history from around the world before the renaissance even happened. That’s why I love the MET so much, it takes you back in time and shows how similar themes of life are throughout humanity.
What is your creative process like?
Spending time in the Hudson Valley gives me the opportunity to have endless opportunities to explore in the mountains. having the balance of nature brings calm into the studio and helps me with the space I need around my artistic practice.
What experience (or experiences) have most defined you as an artist, and shaped your style?
When I was living in Philadelphia because it is a city that is so abundant with public Murals and is filled with working artists. For me, making art is ultimately about a therapeutic release and having fun.
Do you have an art world pet peeve?
Who is your favorite living artist right now? Albert Oehlen
What other projects are you working on besides the Freehand?
Currently I am working on a series of Etchings which explore a combination of different themes from World Mythology and abstract mark making and movement. I would really like to approach these etchings like I would a mural or large painting.