Narsiso Martinez: Joyfully Grown

Charlie James Gallery is proud to present new works by Narsiso Martinez in Joyfully Grown, the artist’s third solo exhibition with the gallery. Working in charcoal and mixed media on found cardboard produce boxes, Martinez draws from personal experience and relationships to highlight the lives and dreams of farmworkers. Martinez’s works make visible the individuals who go unseen in the American agricultural system, upon whose painstakingly physical labor the entire system relies. These works draw upon visual languages of power, especially Catholic portraiture, to uplift workers and remind the viewer that the work for representation and equality is ongoing.

The centerpiece of the exhibition is a large site-specific installation that spans the rear gallery. On the Works depicts a dinner party of silhouetted figures against a black background, seated at a long table laden with produce collaged from found cardboard boxes. These faceless suits enjoy the literal fruits of the labor of those shown around them. The curtains and chandelier setting this scene come from an image of a White House dining room, emphasizing the stark power imbalances that exist within the system. The partygoers are surrounded by meticulously rendered farmworkers. They ascend ladders to pick from the tops of trees, carry heavy loads of fruit, and sort product in heavy protective gear. But they also pause to rest for their own meal, in a humble reflection of the diners pictured above.

Martinez makes a point of showing workers at rest, emphasizing their worth outside of the exploitations of labor. They pause to take a meal in the fields, sit together under lush trees, or look out over furrowed rows of an agricultural landscape. On the Grass showcases Martinez’s sfumato technique, the deeply shaded fruit trees giving way to energetic bursts of light. The three figures in the foreground take their lunch seated in the dirt or on an overturned bucket, their configuration reminiscent of 19th century alfresco paintings. The conditions here, though, are not leisurely enjoyment of nature, but rather a lack of access to indoor space or even a simple table.

Delano Grapes honors the civil rights era leaders who fought for improved conditions and pay for farmworkers. Larry Itliong, Dolores Huerta, and Cesar Chavez boldly return the viewer’s gaze, haloed in gold leaf as saints of the movement. The cardboard bears the brand of Delano Farms, a nod to the 1965 Delano grape strike and boycott that mobilized early unionization efforts. This allusion to religious painting carries into Resist. The solitary figure shown in three-quarter view against a field of gold leaf directly calls upon the language of Chrisitan icons. The graduation cap stands in for a halo, likening the achievement of education to a saint’s divine glow. In both of these works, Martinez invites the viewer to imagine a better future for workers, via political action or education.

Martinez’s use of produce boxes as support brings a physicality to the work that directly connects to the labor of those he depicts. Whether intact in box form or flattened into a broad surface, the humble cardboard paired with realist portraiture accented in decadent gold leaf raises questions about what and who is valued in society. In their own way, Martinez’s works continue the fight for better working and living conditions for farmworkers present and future.