1953
Born: Penjamo, Scottsdale, Arizona
Lives and works in New York, New York
EDUCATION
1979
Arizona State University, Tempe
1985
San Francisco Art Institute
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
1998
American Indian Arts, San Francisco
2003
Mario Martinez: The Last San Francisco Paintings, Cakewalk Gallery, Phoenix
2005
New Tribe: New York: From Tradition to Transcendence, National Museum of the American Indian George Gustav Heye Center, New York, January 29–May 8
2010–2011
From AZ to NYC: A Visual Journey By Mario Martinez, Mesa Arts Center, Mesa, AZ, September 10, 2010—January 30 2011
2014
The Desert Never Left the City, Museum of Contemporary Native Art, Santa Fe, August 22–December 31
2017
OTA Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, August 15 – September 17
2024
Mario Martinez: Mindscape, Garth Greenan Gallery, New York, New York, January 11–February 24
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
1991–1993
Our Land/Ourselves: American Indian Contemporary Artists, University Art Gallery, University of Albany, New York, February 1–March 17, 1991; Robert Hull Fleming Museum, University of Vermont, Burlington, April 12–May 24, 1991; The Art Museum at Stony Brook, New York, July 1–August 11, 1991; State University of New York, New Paltz, September 10–October 10, 1991; Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, October 25–December 1, 1991; University Art Museum, State University of New York, Binghamton, January 17–February 17, 1992; Plattsburgh Art Museum, Plattsburgh, New York, March 7–April 18, 1992; Tyler Art Gallery, Oswego, New York, September 3–October 20, 1992; Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, November 3–December 17, 1992; Fairfield University, Fairfield, Connecticut, January 10–February 13, 1993; Rochester Museum and Science Center, Rochester, New York, April 7–May 16, 1993
We, the Human Beings: 27 Contemporary Native American Artists, The College of Wooster Museum, Wooster, Ohio
1992–1994
The Submuloc Show/Columbus Wohs, Museum of Art, University of Oregon, Eugene, January 5, 1992–February 23, 1992; Heard Museum, Phoenix, Arizona, May 15, 1993–September 12, 1993; Collier County Museum, Naples, Florida, April 17, 1992–May 22, 1992; Fondo del Sol Visual Arts Center, Washington, D.C., June 6, 1992–July 11, 1992; Guilford Native American Art Gallery, Greensboro, North Carolina, July 19, 1992–August 23, 1992; Concordia College Art Department, Moorhead, Minnesota, September 4, 1992–October 9, 1992; Minneapolis Institute of Arts, October 24, 1992–January 3, 1993; University Art Galleries, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, January 17, 1993–February 26, 1993; American Indian Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, March 12, 1993–May 1, 1993; Sacred Circle Gallery, Daybreak Star Arts Center, Seattle, September 25, 1993–October 30, 1993; Schneider Museum of Art, Southern Oregon State College, Ashland, November 11, 1993–December 17, 1993; Spokane Falls Community College, Washington, January 15, 1994–February 28, 1994
1994–1995
Books by Native Artists, American Indian Community House Gallery, New York
1995
Expressions of Spirit, Wheelwright Museum, Santa Fe, February 4–May 10
Living Tapestry: Contemporary Native American Artists, Laney College Art Gallery, Oakland, California
Mario Martinez: Visual Interpretations of Yaqui Myths & Legends, American Indian Contemporary Arts, San Francisco
Artists Who Are Indian, Denver Art Museum, Colorado
1996
I Stand in the Center of the Good, American Indian Community House Gallery, New York
1996–1997
Native Streams, Jan Cicero Gallery, Chicago, January 12–February 24, 1996
1997
New Art from Native America, Center Gallery, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, February 1–23
Honoring Diversity: Multicultural Perspectives, Koret Gallery, Palo Alto, California
1999
Fall, Jan Cicero Gallery, Chicago
2000–2001
who stole the tepee?, National Museum of the American Indian, New York, October 1, 2000–January 21, 2001
2001
Reopening the West, Rockwell Museum of Western Art, Corning, New York
2002
Rewritings: Painting from Native America, Artfit Exhibition Space, Phoenix, February 15–April
Contemporary Artists Federation, Saitama Museum of Modern Art, Saitama, Japan
AlieNation, American Indian Community House Gallery, New York
2002–2003
Common Ground: Contemporary Native American Art from the Permanent Collection and Private Collections, Tucson Museum of Art, Arizona, October 18, 2002–May 18, 2003
2003
Lasting Impressions: Print Portfolio of Ten Contemporary Native American Artists, Phippen Art Museum, Prescott, Arizona. May 10–June 13
Indian Market Show, Lewallen Gallery, Santa Fe
2004–2007
Native Views: Influences of Modern Culture, Artrain USA, Ann Arbor, Michigan
2005–2006
Gifts to Celebrate, Heard Museum, Phoenix, October 2005–July 2006
2007
Mario Martinez and Steven Yazzie, Berlin Gallery, Heard Museum, Phoenix
Native New Yorkers, New England School of Art and Design Gallery, Suffolk University, Boston, February 14–March 16
2007–2008
Liz Hernandez Contemporary Fine Art, Scottsdale, Arizona
2008
Native Voices: Contemporary Indigenous Art, Kentler International Drawing Center, Brooklyn, New York, February 8–March 23; Salena and Humanities Galleries, Long Island University, Brooklyn, New York, March 6–29; Five Myles International Drawing Space, Brooklyn, New York, March 8–April 21
2009
The Importance of In/Visibility: Recent Work by Native American Artists Living in New York City, Amerinda, New York, April 11–May 9
2009–2010
Personal Journeys: American Indian Landscapes, Heard Museum North Scottsdale, Scottsdale, Arizona, October 22, 2009–March 14, 2010
2010
In/Sight 2010, Chelsea Art Museum, New York, January 15–February 13
2010–2011
Vantage Point: The Contemporary Native Art Collection, National Museum of the American Indian, Washington DC, September 25, 2010–August 7, 2011
2011
Vicariously Through You, Wilmer Jennings Gallery at Kenkeleba, New York, March 9–April 30
2011–2012
Something Old, Something New, Nothing Borrowed: New Acquisitions from the Heard Museum Collection, Heard Museum, Phoenix, April 2, 2011–March 18, 2012
The Spirit Within: Creation, Community, Renewal in Indigenous Art, Manresa Gallery, San Francisco, November 13, 2011–February 12, 2012
2013
The Old Becomes the New: New York Contemporary Art Movement and the New York School, Wilmer Jennings Gallery at Kenkeleba, New York, April 3–June 2
2014
New Stories from Native America, Idyllwild Arts Academy, Idyllwild, California, June 29–July 5
2015–2016
CONVERSATIONS: The Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship, Eiteljorg Museum, Indianapolis, November 13, 2015–February 14, 2016
2017–2018
Native Art Now!, Eiteljorg Museum, Indianapolis, November 15, 2017–January 28, 2019
2018–2019
Widening Circles: Portraits from the Joan Mitchell Foundation at 25 Years, Joan Mitchell Foundation, New York, December 6, 2018–September 27, 2019
Celebrations, OTA Contemporary, Santa Fe, December 7, 2018–January 27, 2019
2018–2020
Constructing Identity in America (1766-2017), Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, New Jersey, September 1, 2018–January 5, 2020
2019–2021
Stretching the Canvas: Eight Decades of Native Painting, National Museum of the American Indian, New York, November 16, 2019–Fall 2021
2020
Survivance and Sovereignty On Turtle Island: Engaging with Contemporary Native American Art, Kupferberg Holocaust Center, Queensborough Community College, Queens, New York, January 21–May 21
Habitat California: Flora and Fauna, Palos Verdes Art Center, Rancho Palos Verdes, California, February 8–May 23
2022
FIRST: Native American Artists of Arizona, Civic Center Public Gallery, Scottsdale Civic Center Library, Arizona, January 10–March 30
2023–2024
The Land Carries Our Ancestors: Contemporary Art by Native Americans, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., September 22, 2023–January 15, 2024; New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut, April 19–September 15, 2024.
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Museum of Contemporary Native American Art, Santa Fe
Eiteljorg Museum, Indianapolis, Indiana
Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C.
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Chicago
Heard Museum, Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix City Hall Collection, Arizona
Scottsdale City Hall Collection, Arizona
Rockwell Museum, Corning, New York
Tucson Museum of Art, Arizona
University of Arizona, Tucson
Snite Museum, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana
Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, Maine
BOOKS AND CATALOGUES
Abbott, Lawrence, ed. I Stand in the Center of the Good: Interviews with Contemporary Native American Artists. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1994.
Campbell, Suzan and Kathleen Ash-Milby. People, Places and Ideas: The Rockwell Museum of Western Art. Corning, NY: Rockwell Museum of Western Art, 2001.
Eiteljorg Museum. Conversations: Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship 2015. Indianapolis: Eiteljorg Museum, 2015.
Everett, Deborah and Elayne Zorn. Encyclopedia of Native American Artists: Artists of the American Mosaic. Westport, CT and London: Greenwood Press, 2008.
Martine, David Bunn. No Reservation: New York, Contemporary Native American Art Movement. New York: Amerinda, 2017.
McMaster, Gerald. New Tribe, New York: The Urban Vision Quest. New York: Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, 2005.
Museum of Contemporary Native Arts. Manifestations: New Native Art Criticism. Santa Fe: Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, 2011.
Nahwoosky, Fred and Richard Hill, Sr., eds. Who Stole the Tee Pee? Phoenix: Atlatl, Inc., 2000.
Osburn-Bigfeather, Joanna, Rayna Green, Gregory Cajete, and Lucy Lippard. Native Views: Influences of Modern Culture. Ann Arbor: Artrain, 2004.
Passalacqua, Veronica, Kate Morris, and James H. Nottage. Native Art Now!: Developments In Contemporary Native American Art Since 1992. Indianapolis: Eiteljorg Museum, 2017.
Penn, W. S., ed. The Telling of the World: Native American Stories and Art. New York: Tabori and Change, 1996.
Penney, David W. and George C. Longfish. Native American Art. New York: Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, 1994.
Quick-to-See Smith, Jaune, et al., eds. The Land Carries Our Ancestors: Contemporary Art by Native Americans. Washington D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 2023.
Robertson, Jean and Craig McDaniel. Painting as a Language: Material, Technique, Form, Content. Fort Worth: Harcourt College Publishers, 2000.
Zurko, Kathleen McManus, ed. We, The Human Beings: 27 Contemporary Native American Artists. Wooster, OH: College of Wooster Art Museum, 1992.
PERIODICALS
“Abstract Visions.” Southwest Art, April 2000.
Guiliano, Charles. “Mario Martinez: Native New Yorker.” Maverick-arts.com, June 3, 2006.
Schaaf, Gregory. “Four Painters.” Native Peoples Magazine, January/February 2005.
Tatol, Sean. “Mario Martinez: Mindscape- Garth Greenan.” Manhattan Art Review, February 2, 2024.