OX from Unsustainable Creatures by Cynthia Minet © Martin Cox

I have been shooting Cynthia’s sculptures for many years, today I got to photograph her newest piece, the OX from her series Unsustainable Creatures series.

I love the skill in drawing with repurposed plastic forms, and the performance aspect, I have to find just the right lighting conditions for these the creatures.

Of this series Cynthia says: “In the “unsustainable creatures” a sense of humor pervades the representation of domestic animals made from recycled and re-purposed plastic containers and objects. Part of the fun in making the work is looking for shapes that will represent a head or a hoof, and then retaining identifiable aspects of those objects, whether laundry detergent bottles or take-home containers for pie. Friends and neighbors contribute their recyclables for use in this ongoing project, and much material is culled from dumpsters and thrift-stores.”

More of her work can be found at: www.cynthiaminet.com

Farmhouse at Allbrook, Hampshire © Martin Cox 2011

Down the street, from where I stayed while shooting the canal project, an abandoned cottage loomed behind trees not far from the river

I was curious and asked around. It was said that the painter Mary Beale (1633–1699) has stayed there.  Described as the “most important portrait painter of 17th century England, and the first professional female English painter”.

Seeking more information on her, I recently consulted Ellen C. Clayton’s book ENGLISH FEMALE PAINTERS (Vol 1: 1876), of Mary Beale she writes; “One of the most industrious of women, as all female artists have ever been, she assiduously copied every good Italian picture she could obtain.”  The time spent at Allbook was likely due to her husbands financial troubles, and it was during this time she grew in skill and prominence, returning the family to a Pall Mall studio with her £200 annual income from commissions (about US$600,000 in today’s money).

Clayton called her, “The leader of the little sisterhood of artists patronized by King Charles the Second…”

The cottage is a Grade II Listed building, however developers are rumoured to be seeking the removal of this 1659-built farmhouse for a court of new houses, and may wait for it to become unsound.

From Perfect Echo, © Martin Cox

Closing reception October 30th, 2pm at THE GALLERY 3517 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026, enter through Dustmuffin

Call THE GALLERY for details  323.644.2828

detail from Allbrook Lock, Hampshire, England © Martin Cox

Summer Navigation: Passage through the pastoral (an 18th century English machine in the modern era)

New works by Echo Park Photographer Martin Cox show at local frame shop:

Aaron Ballard’s Framing & Gallery
1568 W. Sunset Blvd
Echo Park, CA 90026

(Next to Bank of America at the corner of Sunset and Echo Park Ave in Downtown Echo Park)

Opens Sat Oct 1st exhibition runs to November 5

Parking: 1/2 block south of Sunset, off Echo Park Ave. (A City lot, be sure to read the signs)

My exhibition of new Los Angeles inspired photographs opened at THE GALLERY at 3517 Sunset Blvd on Sept 10th.  Enter through the artisan store Dustmuffin.

I was invited exhibit as a local artist and interestingly the gallery wanted locally shot work, the exhibition was accompanied by this text:

For this exhibition, Photographer Martin Cox was invited to exhibit recent work regarding on Los Angeles as the theme.  The confluence of two images; the perfect but now closed Echo Park and the underwater shopping cart taken in Echo Park Lake; suggested title PERFECT ECHO. A question of beauty ensued.

Taking Echo Park’s Lake historic lake as a starting point, Cox’s images are derived from a year examining the surrounding city, be it the icon of the 1893-built Bradbury Building, or a San Pedro-built Liberty ship, Cox explores these locations with a fascination for both sides of the story, the glorious and the underbelly.

Martin Cox, originally from Britain, lives in Echo Park. His work has been previously exhibited in New York, San Francisco, London and Los Angeles.

A mightily pregnant Zebra-tailed lizard on the trail to Lost Palms Oasis

Desert bloom in Sky Valley

“In the uncertain light the dunes took the semblance of creeping shapes, their long shadows black as ink on the pallid gray of the earth. A scant growth of creosote bush blurred the view, and the vagueness added to the impression of space and monotony that is inherent in these great levels. The mountain outlines far ahead could hardly be seen against the dimness of the sky.” J. Smeaton Chase (published 1919)

Eyeway 62

April 12, Hollywood – curating this projection event with Sara Jane Boyers and 7 photographers: Nicola Dill, Ann Mitchell, John Rosewall, Magnus Stark, Svjetlana Tepavcevic, Sara Jane Boyers and Martin Cox. Music by a stalwart of the Los Angeles avant-garde art and music scene cellist Michael Intriere