Ten Martin Wittfooth That Had Gone Way Too Far

December 31, 2019

Martin Widmann lives and works in New York City. Born in Canada, raised in Finland and now living in New York City, Martin Widmann (b. 1980) received his MFA from The School of Visual Arts where he studied contemporary art. He has exhibited widely across North America and Europe, exhibiting mainly in museums and galleries. Since moving to New York in 1998, Martin has been exhibiting increasingly diverse work, especially drawing.

Martin Widmann brings together his international experience with his expertise in the field of fine arts. His installations have been displayed in places like the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Saachi Gallery in Toronto, the Museum of Canadian Art in Toronto, the Guggenheim Museum in New York, and numerous others. As a private artist, Martin has also been involved in the management of traveling exhibits and group exhibitions across North America, as well as travelling to Japan, Russia, and Finland to complete a series of installations in which he was accompanied by members of his seaport society.

With a focus on bringing artistic impressions to life, Martin Witfooth presents a variety of impressions and portraiture from around the world. These pieces are rich in color, detail, atmosphere, and texture. His work is influenced both by the visual arts of his birth country, as well as by the new American art movement of the nineteen hundreds. His style, which combines elements of impressionism, impressionist, modern, and abstract expressionism is distinctive. This quality helps him to bring alive a myriad array of emotions and impressions within the various paintings he produces.

Martin Wittfooth studied painting in Europe before moving to the United States and eventually settling in New York City. In addition to bringing international recognition to his paintings, Wittfooth made a home in the New York city's Lower East Side, an area renowned for its artisan crafts and bohemian lifestyle. His artwork is described as “psycho-dynamic”, a description that accounts for the unique character of his paintings, each portraying scenes from various parts of the city and often from different angles. His work is described as being painterly, as being animated, inventive, impressionistic, and unique.

Martin's artistic style can be described as dynamic, impressionistic, expressive, visionary, playful, original, innovative, realistic, elliptical, informal, and abstract. A favourite amongst his many admirers is his “Leaving London” oil paintings which depict scenes from the early days of his career in Toronto. Among the many renowned artists who have produced similar oil paintings in Toronto are Fred Mendelson, Arthur Hills, Peter Young, William Collins, J.R. Jameson, J.L. Andrew, Paul Schrade, Rene Canuel, Don Felder, and Frank Pietronigro. All of these artists have combined aspects of modern, traditional, abstract, and Canadian art to produce beautiful works that have served as inspiring inspirations for Martin Wittfooth.

“Leaving London” (late 2021), acrylic on canvas, Dinnertime, first solo exhibition, shows Wittfooth at work at the most innovative and prolific era in modern art, the sixties and seventies. Wittfooth, whose full name is Martin John Wittfowl, was born in Yorkshire, England. He worked for a short spell in London, later moving to Toronto, Canada. There he worked as an illustrator and designer before discovering and following his true calling in oil painting. Following this, Wittfooth founded a studio on Yonge Street in Toronto, which until very recently was the only place to go to paint for contemporary artists.

“Leaving London” showcases the full range of Wittfooth's talent, which is exhibited through careful use of colour, line, form, texture, and imagery. Starting with the title, the work progresses through each of the four colour groups and into the last section, a assemblage of imagery culled from a myriad of sources. Throughout the majority of the work, Wittfooth utilises what is sometimes referred to as “the cast of minds”, a collage of images and words that collectively tell a single story. These tell us things such as: martin wittfooth is leaving london, all about leaving london with “something really important”, martin wittfooth has a complicated past, the importance of leaving london lies in the development of new ideas, the need for renewal, the fear of change and so on. The final section, which depicts the effects of leaving london upon its inhabitants, visually illustrates how wrong we are if we do not leave London.

As an international phenomenon, this exhibition runs until the end of May. You can also view other works by Martin Wittfooth, including his pop-up painting entitled “Click to Expand”. This work was made visible at the London Pop Festival in 2021. A release of the Pop Art exhibition, this exhibition has been highly successful, especially due to the involvement of Martin Wittfooth. With his poignant imagery and highly imaginative paintings, Martin Wittfooth is creating a lasting image of modern anxiety.