Martins work features with festivals, projects and walls globally. whether immersing entirely or embellishing a detail, the images disappear beneath expressive, spray-painted strokes of assorted colours and textures. True to form, no gray space stays gray for long in Martins presence. The ashen tones of the compositions and vacant backgrounds are reminiscent of his alternative canvases, the concrete. Almost stylised, these minimal figures are constructed of a few layers of hand-cut stencils. Delicate and organic characters feature butterflies, ballerinas and animals all rendered in empty grayscale space. With as many works on walls as on canvas and paper, the relationship between vulnerability and strength remains constant in each work. This balance would come to define his creative approach. The evolution moved him closer to a simple yet effective aesthetic he believed could bridge the gap between the passion and spontaneity Graffiti held for him, with the fragility and transience of nature. In the early 2000s, this interest in layers became more literal with the introduction of stencils into his work. The same deconstructive processes can be seen in his creative influences of Jose Parla and Cy Twombly. The physical architecture of the city was a constant inspiration, the elaboration and destruction of each generation contributing to the urban infrastructure. Growing up in Oslo Norway, Martin was an active part of the emerging graffiti scene of the early 90’s which at the time maintained zero tolerance. His works can be seen to mirror the rise and fall of the streets, as he symbolically recreates the urban environment, then vandalises it to reveal his vibrant transformations. Over the past decade, Martin has developed an unmistakable aesthetic combining abstract movement with figurative stencilled compositions. Martin Whatson (b.1984) is a Norwegian street artist best known for his calligraphic scribbles in grayscale voids.
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