Walter Martin (American, b.1953)

Art

One half of the famed artistic collaboration, Martin & Munoz, Walter Martin (1953) is a photographer and sculptor who often work in the diorama space. Their subjects are frequently dystopic and explore the feelings of alienation and dark humor that is so bonded to the human condition. HIs work has been featured at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid, and the Hunter Museum of American Art in Chattanooga, Tennessee. 

Walter Martin was born in Norfolk, Virginia in 1953. He received a BA from Old Dominium University and an MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1980. His early solo work in the 1980s and early 1990s was exhibited at the P.P.O.W. gallery in New York City, including an iconic showing called Drawings from the Patent Office in 1991. 

1993 would be the year that changed everything. Martin met a young artist named Paloma Munoz while in New York City. The daughter of Spanish artist Paloma Navares and film producer David Munoz, Paloma Munoz and Martin began a professional and personal relationship that would continue to the present day. The couple moved to Milford, Pennsylvania where they began producing tiny dystopic sculptures which they would then film with a high-resolution digital camera. 

The duo would create numerous sculptures, with a trademark white, pristine background against which a number of tiny figures create an ominous scene. Work like Traveler CCCXXXV at Night (2017) imbues black humor and tender moments equally into each scene. These scenes are often part of a continuing series, Traveler and Islands being the most famous, though works like Blind House, Spheres, and A Cure for All Remedies and Other Short Stories have also had significant resonance with audiences and critics. 

Their work is pregnant with imagination, and as such has proved an inspiration for many artists of other disciplines. Jonathan Lethem wrote a short story inspired by one of their monographs which was then published by the Aperture Foundation. Martin & Munoz also produced the cover and accompanying artwork for the famed indie rock group, The New Pornographers for their album, Together (2010).

Martin continues to produce notable work with Munoz, the two dividing time between studios in Pennsylvania, Brooklyn, and Spain. While their process has remained the same, the duo continues to create vibrant art that shows the surprising depth created when two seemingly contradictory ideas are juxtaposed in a new and exciting way. 

What is the Value of Original Martin & Munos Photos?

The price range of an original Walter Martin and Paloma Munoz photograph is from $200 to $10,000.