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Presented by the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts
Timken Lecture Hall, San Francisco campus
Kris Martin is the spring Capp Street Project artist in residence and one of the seven artists featured in the Wattis Institute’s Magnificent Seven program. He is based in Belgium and one of the most celebrated artists of his generation working in Europe today. His practice centers almost entirely on the fragility of the human condition—the proximity of a life lived close to death.
Martin’s work often draws attention to temporality and, in the centuries-long tradition of the memento mori, reminds us of death’s inevitability. Rather than being ominous or morbid, however, it encourages a spirit of appreciating existence and reflects the fragility of life with poignant simplicity.
Mandi III (2003) is perhaps Martin’s best-known piece (it was included in the 3rd Berlin Biennale). It is a black train station departure board that flips at random but displays no characters or numbers, thus putting the viewer’s daily transits into a broader perspective by indicating that there is, in the end, only one destination.
Lead sponsorship for the Capp Street Project artist residency of Kris Martin is provided by the Nimoy Foundation.
Generous support for CCA public programs in San Francisco has been provided by Grants for the Arts / San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund.
