Ars Gratia Artis
Lucas Martinez can trace his family lineage in Valencia, Spain back to the 15th century, right around the time the empire was at the height of its powers. The most recent foreign addition to his ancestry was an Italian woman who married into the family and moved to Valencia 400 years ago. Lucas speaks Valenciano with his friends and family.
“My family has always been very attached to the sea,” Martinez said. One could fairly assume that over the last six centuries his family has been employed as importers and exporters, mariners and explorers, fisherman, and Lucas’ former profession — competitive sailing.
After a couple of years in the professional sailing circuit and having won the prized Deportista De Elite title, Martinez decided it was time to make a career path decision: continue with the sport or endeavor into his other life-long passion — sculpture.
“My uncle was a sculptor and introduced me to it when I was three years old,” Martinez said. “I spent a lot of time at his studio. He was interested in Japanese culture and art, his work reflected that.”
Martinez earned a BFA in sculpture from Universidad de Castilla la Mancha in 2012 and began in earnest to make his mark on the art world. By the end of the next year, his work was featured in the exhibitions “Lucas Martinez: Sculptures” at Galery Artnobel in Barcelona and “Nuevos talentos” in Valencia; he was also a finalist for the coveted and hip Florence Shanghai Prize.
Martinez’s preferred materials for sculpture are metal, wood, and sometimes paper, as used in his graphic work and origami projects. He describes his sculpture to be inspired primarily by motion the sea, and conversation. “Art is an experience,” Martinez said. His graphic work is heavily influenced by cartography and topography.
After three more years of work during which he was featured in exhibitions throughout Spain, and won Museo Anton Sculpture Grant — in 2016 he was awarded the Ruth Kuntzman full-scholarship to The League Residency at Vytlacil, just outside of New York City and along the Hudson River.
It was there that he would meet his future wife, Emma Shapiro, an American performance artist in the same program at Vytlacil.
“It was her work first that captivated me,” Lucas said. Shapiro asked Martinez for his input on a project and said he was the consummate professional in the interaction.
Probed on his impression of Shapiro — whether he thought she was a typical, free-spirited, American female artist — Martinez replied dryly, “There are women like that everywhere.”
Martinez returned to Valencia after the residency. He broke up with the woman he was in a relationship with before and during his time in New York. When asked for his rationale on the matter, Lucas declined to add details. “Sorry, I don’t know you that well,” he added respectfully.
Shapiro and Martinez kept in contact over the next year and as they connected more, they decided they should rendezvous and Shapiro came to visit Valencia, thus marking the beginning of their romance.
As the relationship deepened and the time came to consider the question of marriage and where the couple would call home, there was never much of a question. Shapiro now considers herself an expatriate, happily married, living in a spacious flat in Valencia, and getting accustomed to the culture.
Martinez rents space to work and house his machines and tools in a building situated on farmland, about a 15-minute car ride from his neighborhood in Valencia.
He shares the building with five or six other artists. His space features a circular saw, pneumatic drill press, sanding board, other automatic heavy machinery, hand tools, and the raw materials for his art — metal, wood, and paper.
Prominently positioned is Martinez’s stereo system. “I’m always listening to music when I am working.” Some of his favorites are The Band, Miles Davis, Nick Drake, and whatever is on the local classical music station in Valencia.
With representation secured with Galeria Vangara for promotion and distribution of his work, as well as a growing presence in the United States, prospects for Martinez are auspicious. “I prefer to survive,” he said. “My aspiration is to have a decent life [and] opportunity to focus on my artwork and my career.”
He is quick to state that commercial success cannot be the sole motivation for his art. “No compromises,” Martinez said. If he becomes the next Rodin, great; if he has a comfortable life and stays true to his muse, even better. Ars gratia artis — art for art’s sake.
