Enrique Martinez Celaya: Working Methods

In the first comprehensive study of Martinez Celaya’s multifaceted process, Mary Rakow and Matthew Biro illuminate previously unaddressed aspects of the artist’s practice including his tendency to destroy his own work, his materials and his approach towards them, his literary influences, and the changes that led to pivotal moments in his career. The bookfeatures new photography, archival images, and a number of previously unpublished works. Also included are an interview by Rakow with the artist that reveals his unique practice as well as a biographical chronology, a bibliography, and an exhibition history. His projects frequently take the form of multi-disciplinary environments that balance images with the immediacy of the material experience, and his ideas as well as his approach are influenced by sources that range from Nordic poetry to quantum physics. His early training as a scientist and his interest in philosophy is evident in his layered work which is cerebral, emotionally direct, and deeply connected to life.