23 September 2024

Joyfully Grown

Narsiso Martinez honors
the farmworkers who put
food on American tables

by Kate Mothes

When Narsiso Martinez was 20 years old, he immigrated to the U.S. from Oaxaca, Mexico, determined to get an education and pursue a life different than that available to him where he was raised. He finished high school nine years later, then went to college and focused on fine art. And as he pursued his MFA, he began working seasonally in the apple orchards of eastern Washington, observing a side of the nation’s food chain most consumers rarely—if ever—see.

While working in the orchards, Martinez got to know other farmworkers, the majority of whom were also immigrants. It’s estimated that the U.S. relies on around 2.5 million farmworkers to keep the sector going. The artist became increasingly interested in the individuals upon whom the immense agricultural system relies to harvest and process the nation’s produce. The public reaps the benefits of fresh fruit and vegetables delivered daily to local supermarkets, yet the intense labor and personal sacrifices required of those who work in the fields most often go unseen and unheard.

In Joyfully Grown, the artist’s third solo exhibition at Charlie James Gallery, Martinez continues to honor the individuals who keep America’s agricultural system thriving. He nods to recognizable tropes of wealth and power in Renaissance Christian art through portraiture and the use of gold leaf. But instead of ornate gilded frames, his sitters gaze back at the viewer from the interior surfaces of produce boxes, reconsidering what we think of as disposable, utilitarian objects as precious, life-bearing vessels.

martinez-6 — By the Wiring, 2023. Ink, gouache, charcoal and simple leaf on melon box, 23.5 x 15.5 x 7.5 Inches

Martinez works from photographs, capturing the likenesses of people who look directly at us, or candid moments of laborers filling containers or reaching for limbs on ladders. In “Resist,” a young man wears a graduation gown with a cap that mimics a halo, exalting education and its potential to help people live more abundant lives. In “Embracing Future,” a male figure holds a baby, looking out across what at first reads like an idyllic landscape but also embodies exhausting physical labor. At the feet of the seated figure, textbooks and art historical references suggest a different path.

The centerpiece of the exhibition, a collaged installation titled “In the Works,” focuses on the centerpiece itself, as a long table laden with myriad fruits is attended by silhouetted diners who peer at a sanctified pair of hands holding an apple. A large chandelier hangs over the scene, which is composed above a doorway and flanked by tableaux of orchard workers.

From farm to table, Martinez spotlights the disparities between the two experiences, one not possible without the other, yet wholly separate. Through his continued explorations of power dynamics, community, and individuality, the artist advocates not only for recognition but for better living and working conditions for all farm laborers.

Joyfully Grown continues through October 26. Find more on the gallery’s website.