Kris Martin: EXIT

With EXIT, S.M.A.K. has organised the first major Belgian retrospective dedicated to the work of Kris Martin (b. 1972, Kortrijk, Belgium). Over a period of some 20 years, Martin has created an oeuvre that poses questions about the human condition of life, death and transience. He utilises a pure and direct visual language. His work is conceptual and subtle, charged and layered. In sculptures, drawings, installations and photographs, the artist understands how to take the viewer into questions that remain philosophically unanswered, questions that circle around existence and its human aspects. Martin achieves this through minimal interventions to ready-mades, or their subtle manipulation. Commonly recognizable items and, on occasion, everyday objects, are imbued with meanings that foster a broad spectrum of readings, from the intimate and poetic to the universal. The artist often draws upon cultural and art history, literature and religion; domains that for centuries have tried to fill the emptiness of existence.

Kris Martin lives and works in Mullem, Belgium. His work has been shown in numerous solo exhibitions, including: MoMA PS1, New York; Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn; Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau; Kestnergesellschaft, Hanover; Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna; CCA Wattis, San Francisco and K20, Düsseldorf, among others. His work has also been shown in various group exhibitions, including: Tate Modern, London; The Louvre, Paris; Witte de With, Rotterdam; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis and Centre Pompidou, Paris. Kris Martin also participated in the 54th Venice Biennale (2011); the 12th Istanbul Biennale (2011); the 6th Liverpool Biennale (2010); and the 4th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art (2006). He initiated the exhibitions SINT-JAN (with Jan Hoet, 2012, Ghent) and PASS (with Jan Hoet Jr., 2015, Mullem/Huise/Wannegem/Lede).