Tirzo Martha: Chronically Monochromatic.
The Curaçao Museum announces two (2) exhibition openings of the acclaimed artist Tirzo Martha.
TIRZO MARTHA: CHRONISCH MONOCHROOM (Chronically Monochromatic)
1. Opening of the solo exhibition at the Curaçao Museum.
Thursday, December 1, 2022.
Time: 19:00 to 21:00.
Location: The Curaçao Museum.
Mundo Nobo.
2. Second opening, at the artist’s studio. The remaining part of the series.
Saturday, December 3, 2022.
Time:10:30 to 12:30.
Location: Tirzo Martha’s atelier Fruteria Bashí.
Mohikanenweg 8 (Klinika Capriles).
Register for both occasions at: info@hetcuracaosch.museum.
Tirzo Martha
Tirzo Martha’s career is extensive and varied. He creates sculptures and videos and regularly appears as a performance artist. His urge to create art originates in his humanitarian and social engagement.
Tirzo knows how to involve his audience directly or indirectly in the creative process. His work goes deeper under the surface of what we see in everyday life. He’s searching for deeper values and a nobler sense of reality.
Tirzo chose to have his atelier Fruteria Bashí at Mohinkanenweg 8, the exact location of the IBB – Instituto Buena Bista, at the Capriles Clinic. Because of the social aspect and engagement of the people (clients) who live there and often engage in Tirzo’s studio. More often than not, they help him in the process of creating. Sometimes they even spent entire days there. ‘Pasa dia’, we say in Papiamentu.
The series Chronisch Monochroom
In 2018 Tirzo Martha ended up for three months in the hospital in both Curaçao and Colombia due to a heart infection. The Chronisch Monochroom series, made between 2021 and 2022, was inspired by this experience.
The Chronisch Monochroom series comprises 28 monumental sculptures made of concrete stone, lamps, iron, wood, car tires, and objects made of different materials like textiles, fake hair, toilets, concrete statues, and galvanized mesh.
Most noticeable in this series is that all the sculptures are pristine white except for the objects that form part of the sculptures in their natural colors. When Tirzo was in the hospital, the color white surrounded him. Everything was white, the machines, the walls, the curtains, the nurse’s uniforms, and so forth. After being discharged from the hospital, the palette of colors in the outside world was attacking him.
The series is also unique because all the works, except for one, are untitled. Titles have always played an essential role in the works. Often cryptic, surprising, and at first glance inconsistent. The fact that the works are untitled is symbolic. It references the daily struggles and irritations that we nowadays have to deal with, the shallowness in which we deal with them, and forget all about them in a few seconds.
The series deals with current societal issues stifling people’s development and growth. The pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the decline in education, unemployment, corruption, and racism are the themes addressed in Tirzo’s monumental works. It’s about making ‘situations’ in our daily lives vital by building monuments in honor of them and then instantly abandoning them, forgetting how important they were at a certain point.
Tirzo Martha’s awards
2019 Werkbijdrage bewezen talent, stipend by Mondriaan Fund, the Netherlands.
2019 Wilhelminaring Award. An oeuvre award for sculptors in the Netherlands.
2017/2018 Solo exhibition ‘Tirzo Martha, No Excuses!’. Nominated in 2017 for the exhibition of the year award in the Netherlands.
2017 Monograph, Tirzo Martha, I wonder if they’ll laugh when I’m dead, received the prize for Best Dutch Book Design 2017.
2017 Tirzo Martha is proclaimed Dutch Master for visual arts, Netherlands.
2010 Tirzo Martha is a special guest artist at the 1st Triennial of the Caribbean, Museo Arte Moderno, Dominican Republic.
2010 Nominated for the International Fritschy Prize, Museum Het Domein in the Netherlands.
2009 Cola Debrot Prize. Highest cultural recognition by the Government of Curaçao.
2009 Stipend granted by Mondriaan Fund for Visual Arts, Design, and Architecture.
2003 The Reed Foundation Award, New York.
The above text may be reproduced only with reference to the source and author: Curaçao Art®️ www.curacao-art.com. Image rights of the artworks remain the property of the artist.
See also the art blog: Tirzo Martha. Curaçao keeps me grounded (2021). Click this link.