LONG BIOGRAPHY

Enrique Martínez Celaya is an artist, author, and former scientist. His work is held in over sixty public collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. His notable projects and exhibitions include those at the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia; The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C.; the Museo Marino Marini in Florence, Italy; the Berliner Philharmonie in Berlin, Germany; the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Havana, Cuba; and the Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig in Germany. He has selectively incorporated two-person exhibitions with historical artists who have been influential to his practice, including Albert Pinkham Ryder, Käthe Kollwitz, and Diego Velázquez. His intellectual and creative contributions are also reflected in his publications. He is the author of nine books on art, philosophy, and poetry, including two volumes of Enrique Martínez Celaya: Collected Writings and Interviews, published by the University of Nebraska Press, which offer a comprehensive survey of his evolving ideas. His work has also been the subject of 14 monographic publications including two recent books published by Hatje Cantz, Berlin, Martínez Celaya, SEA SKY LAND: towards a map of everything, and Enrique Martínez Celaya and Käthe Kollwitz: Von den ersten und den letzten Dingen.

Martínez Celaya is the first Provost Professor of Humanities and Arts in the history of the University of Southern California, a role that underscores his broad intellectual and creative interests. He has also served as the Roth Family Distinguished Visiting Scholar and Montgomery Fellow at Dartmouth College, and as the second Presidential Professor in the history of the University of Nebraska. He has been invited to speak at Stanford University, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Academy in Berlin, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Aspen Institute, the Royal Drawing School in London, and the Aspen Center for Physics, among others, and he delivered the 2020 commencement address at Otis College of Art and Design. In 1998, he founded Whale & Star, an initiative that integrates artistic mentorship, cultural engagement, and publications in critical theory, art practice, and poetry that are internationally recognized. The initiative also includes The Lecture Project, a series of talks at his studio featuring prominent writers and scholars discussing the connection between art and ethics. He has worked with artists, writers, scientists, and musicians, including a twenty-year collaboration with the Canadian rock band Cowboy Junkies.

Martínez Celaya’s career is marked by groundbreaking distinctions that reflect the breadth of the artist’s concerns. He was the first Visual Arts Fellow at the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, and in 2019, his work became the first contemporary sculpture acquired in the institution’s 100-year history. At the Hispanic Society Museum & Library, his installation—critically acclaimed in the New York Times—was the institution’s first contemporary exhibition in 112 years. He was also the first Fellow of the Tor House Foundation, which allowed him unprecedented access to work on-site at the historic home of 20th-century American poet Robinson Jeffers. In 2011, Martínez Celaya was invited to create the first public work commemorating Operation Peter Pan, one of the largest exoduses of unaccompanied minor refugees. His monumental sculpture The Tower of Snow, originally exhibited at the State Hermitage Museum, was integrated into a park he designed across from Miami’s Freedom Tower.

Born in Cuba and raised in Spain and Puerto Rico, Martínez Celaya started his training as a painter’s apprentice at the age of 12. At 16, he built a laser that earned national recognition, and throughout his teens, he published poems, essays, and short stories. These early interests led him to study applied physics, literature, and art at Cornell University, where he was one of the few undergraduate students working at the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source. He went on to earn an MS and completed his PhD coursework in quantum electronics at the University of California, Berkeley with support from a Regents Fellowship and Brookhaven National Laboratory. Before fully transitioning to art, Martínez Celaya received four patents and authored several scientific papers in laser physics and superconductivity. He later attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and earned an MFA from the University of California, Santa Barbara, graduating with the department's highest distinction. Immediately after graduating, he became a professor at Pomona College and, two years later, received the Young Talent Award from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

MEDIUM BIOGRAPHY

Enrique Martínez Celaya is an artist, author, and former scientist. His work is held in over sixty public collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. His notable projects and exhibitions include the State Hermitage Museum in Russia, The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., and the Berlin Philharmonic in Germany. He has also staged dual exhibitions alongside historical figures who influenced his practice, such as Diego Velázquez, Albert Pinkham Ryder, and Käthe Kollwitz. His publications include nine books on art, philosophy, and poetry, including Enrique Martínez Celaya: Collected Writings and Interviews, published by the University of Nebraska Press, which provides a comprehensive survey of his evolving ideas.look at his ideas and evolution His work has also been the subject of 14 monographic publications including two recent books published by Hatje Cantz, Berlin, Martínez Celaya, SEA SKY LAND: towards a map of everything, and Enrique Martínez Celaya and Käthe Kollwitz: Von den ersten und den letzten Dingen.

Martínez Celaya is the first Provost Professor of Humanities and Arts in the history of the University of Southern California, a role that underscores his broad intellectual and creative interests. He has also served as the Roth Family Distinguished Visiting Scholar and Montgomery Fellow at Dartmouth College, as Presidential Professor at the University of Nebraska, and as a tenured professor at Pomona College. He has been invited to speak at Stanford University, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Aspen Institute, among others. In 1998, he founded Whale & Star, an initiative that integrates artistic mentorship, cultural engagement, and publications in critical theory, art practice, and poetry that are internationally recognized

Born in Cuba and raised in Spain and Puerto Rico, Martínez Celaya's early interests in both art and science shaped his multifaceted career. He started his training as a painter’s apprentice at the age of 12 and later studied literature and physics at Cornell University before earning an MS and completing his PhD coursework in quantum electronics at the University of California, Berkeley. He published scientific papers and earned four patents before fully committing to his artistic practice, attending the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and receiving his MFA from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

SHORT BIOGRAPHY

Enrique Martínez Celaya is an artist, author, and former scientist whose work is held in over sixty public collections and has been exhibited at prominent institutions worldwide. He is Provost Professor of Humanities and Arts at the University of Southern California and has served as the Roth Family Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Dartmouth College, where he is also a Montgomery Fellow. Martínez Celaya is the author of nine books on art, philosophy, and poetry. In 1998, he founded Whale & Star, an initiative that integrates artistic mentorship, cultural engagement, and publications in critical theory, art practice, and poetry that are internationally recognized. Born in Cuba and raised in Spain and Puerto Rico, Martínez Celaya started his training as a painter’s apprentice at the age of 12 and studied physics, art, and literature at Cornell University, the University of California, Berkeley, the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, and the University of California, Santa Barbara.