Discover Top Posts Tagged with #sharkmartin

#lucero #adangerousthing #factorytrash #sharkmartin @sharkmartin #colab #screenprinted #fartgallery

#fartgallery #lucero #sharkmartin #factorytrash #colab #screenprinted #adangerousthing

(This guy... he’s pretty street, photo by Rob Dolecki)

Is @sharkmartin the new Van Gogh?

I always find it interesting what people do outside of BMX, whether it be motorcycles, paintball, or anything else really. It kind of strips that person of their BMX camaraderie and we can focus on the individual in a different light. I don’t really follow someone on Instagram unless its really interesting. Sharkmartin is one of the interesting individuals.

Connecticut legend of the Peg Leg fame and still Animal affiliate, Jeff Martin was an early adopter of the grind everything, everyway camp. Whether it’s blasting a huge three over a giant stair set or a multi kinked crook, he seemed to be blessed with the street genes. Maybe riding was always a side thing, maybe opportunities just didn’t pan out, he never really blew up the way I’d think so many other besides myself would have expected him too. He kind of faded away to obscurity after his sleeper banger section on much anticipated ‘Pegleg’ DVD back in 2009.

(I’ve seen that painting!, Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh)

As the internet grew and Instagram became the standard to seeing how your old favorite rider’s life has fared, it came to my knowledge that Jeff Martin while he does seem to ride seldomly but what seems to be a point of more interest these days would be his art. It was definitely different and definitely original. He had a signature style, you can tell from all of his work. The rough lines, often the bright colors. In art that would be defined as expressionistic, to put it simply the style of art is used purposely to convey a feeling more than a direct representation. It was a movment/technique that was really cemented with the works of Van Gogh.

(I wonder what camera that is?, drawing by sharkmartin)

Everybody knows Van Gogh. The crazy mofo that cut off his ear, got only sold one painting in his lifetime, and got institutionalized til he eventually offed himself. The man that defined the ‘tortured artist’ persona. Well his art sells for hundreds of millions now and he’s probably one of the few artists still ingrained to the general public. Jeff Martin’s art reminds of me his, which I think is a very high compliment cause being associated with someone so deranged as Van Gogh could be seen as insult to some, but I mean in the best of ways.

(sculpture by sharkmartin)

You see Jeff has that same rough outlining, strong colors, and rough sketching Van Gogh did. It makes the paintings more alive and full of energy. But with Jeff instead of some landscape in France, his focus is usually characters and figures that have been heavily abstracted. Even though its very Van Gogh, its still really contemporary which makes it more relatable to our generation.

(I really wonder what camera that is?, drawing by sharkmartin)

It’s weird think about how big art directly plays in our world now, compared to whenever Van Gogh was around. A time where art was just spoils of the rich(sill is) and the idea of art for everyone(an idea that Van Gogh actually pushed) was a distant dream. Today many reading this will cite a bike rider who I consider a performance artist of some sort, actor, musician, all artist as their main inspiration. Even though we don’t value art so much, we want it more than ever in todays world. This maybe Sharkmartin’s thing now, with bike riding being put in the backseat and I’m totally ok with that. The dedication he has for bike riding was amazing but this different chapter(maybe) in his life is equally so. His art is amazing and I truly feel deserves to have more exposure cause screw the idea of him being a broke and exposureless in his lifetime like Van Gogh, this boy gotta get recognized!