Deborah Martin is a contemporary American Realist

Realism (visual arts)

Realism in the visual arts is a style that depicts the actuality of what the eyes can see. The term is used in different senses in art history; it may mean the same as illusionism, the representation of subjects with visual mimesis or verisimilitude, or may mean an emphasis on the actuality of...

 Painter, Fine Art Photographer

Fine art photography

Fine art photography refers to photographs that are created in accordance with the creative vision of the photographer as artist. Fine art photography stands in contrast to photojournalism, which provides a visual account for news events, and commercial photography, the primary focus of which is to...

 and curator. A site-specific artist, her work eulogizes the abandoned habitats and domestic landscapes of small town America.

In her continued exploration of American landscapes, Martin has turned her attention to two landmark "saline" sites in the United States known for their distinctive inhabitants, nontraditional social ecology, and unique architecture: the Salton Sea

Salton Sea

The Salton Sea is a shallow, saline, endorheic rift lake located directly on the San Andreas Fault, predominantly in California's Imperial Valley. The lake occupies the lowest elevations of the Salton Sink in the Colorado Desert of Imperial and Riverside counties in Southern California. Like Death...

 and the Outer Cape area of Cape Cod

Cape Cod

Cape Cod, often referred to locally as simply the Cape, is a cape in the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States...

. "Home on the Strange: In Search of the Salton Sea" is based on Polaroids taken over a period of four years, depicting various aspects of the reality of life on the Salton Sea. "The Narrow Lands" is a transdisciplinary project documenting the architectural geography of history and time along the Outer Cape.

Exhibitions

Selected Solo Exhibitions

• 2011 "Wonder Valley", New Paintings by Deborah Martin, The Red Arrow Gallery, Joshua Tree, CA
• 2011 "Narrow Lands", Patty DeLuca Gallery, Provincetown, MA
• 2010 Home on the Strange: In Search of the Salton Sea Deborah Martin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
• 2009 America, New Work by Deborah Martin, Phyllis Stein Art, Los Angeles, CA

Selected Group Exhibitions

• 2011 The School House Gallery, Provincetown, MA
• 2011 Valley of the Ancient Lake: Works Inspired by the Salton Sea, The Salton Sea History Museum, North Shore, CA
• 2011 Threads, The Factory Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
• 2010 The School House Gallery, Provincetown, MA
• 2010 Refuge, Peggy Phelps Gallery, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA
• 2010 Flash Backs, Samuel Francis Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
• 2009 Home, A video Installation by Mia Babalis and New Paintings by Deborah Martin, Deborah Martin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
• 2009 LA2OC Emphasis Extreme, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, CA
• 1999 Polaroids New work by Deborah Martin, The School House, Driskel Gallery, Provincetown, MA
• 1998 Pure The Photography of Deborah Martin, The School House, Driskel Gallery, Provincetown, MA

Education

1992 BFA Master of Arts in teaching, School of the Museum of Fine Arts  Boston, MA

1992 BS Art Education, Tufts University

Tufts University

Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...

External links

• Deborah Martin Official Site
• The School House Gallery http://www.schoolhouseprovincetown.com/martin/martin.html
• Catalysis Projects http://www.catalysisprojects.com
• Home on the Strange: In Search of the Salton Sea on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0983194327