Like a lodestar amid the multiple rows and starkly illuminating whiteness that form the tent of the Untitled Art Fair in Miami Beach, Lilian Martinez’s flat, bold figurative paintings were, in many ways, an audacious marker. Her recontextualization of bodies through art history, with references to Matisse and 1990’s pop-culture, blazon a unique voice in contemporary art as both painter and designer for her own business, BFGF.
It feels like a lifetime ago, but our interview with Lilian in the Winter 2020 issue anticipated both a solo show this April at Ochi Gallery in Los Angeles and work in their booth at Untitled this past December, as well as a celebration of her BFGF line. Like so many artists around the world, her newest solo show, Bart, Beethoven, Wifi, is now an online offering, an experience that requires adjustment and a fresh perception in terms of appreciating the scale and detail of the works. The Chicago-born artist now resides outside of Joshua Tree in California, so I wanted to catch up and hear about how she’s acclimating to desert life and her post-exhibition schedule. And how does she draw that line between Bart and Beethoven? 
Evan Pricco: Where are you sheltering in place at the moment? Is this also where you maintain your studio?
Lilian Martinez: We are at our home in Yucca Valley, California. Yes, my studio is a detached garage space on our property. It has a sliding glass door and a bathroom, so I think it may have been used as a little back house before we moved in.
Are you making work? I keep asking artists if this has at all changed their daily work schedules, and the answers really depend on where they live, including how the product itself may have changed.
This is an interesting question for me because I had just recently finished work for a show that was supposed to open on April 11th before “shelter in place” was officially announced. So I was taking a little breaher, waiting for the work to be picked up. Normally I would be taking a small break right now anyways. I like to reset after finishing work for a show. And the work takes up a lot of space in my studio. So it’s been a challenge to find the physical and mental space to make new work.
But I have been experimenting with painting on flat canvas. They seem more like sketches to me. Like a warm-up leading up to something else. I have also been sketching on my iPad. I started a piece on paper that I’m painting from a projection. I wanted to see what it would feel like to paint without doing any line work.
I’m planning to cast some pieces in the sand outside, but not sure what the result will be, so I guess I’m just experimenting a little right now before I start something more concrete... 
That’s right, when we were doing the print piece on you a few issues ago you were starting on the show at OCHI in Los Angeles. How are you and the gallery treating this body of work now?
The gallery relaunched their website to have an online viewing room. My husband and I arranged and shot some images with our work in my studio in order to give it a spatial quality. We are still planning to install the show, but waiting to finalize a date.
Can you talk a little bit about this particular grouping? I think when I was interviewing you for the print magazine we hadn't addressed it specifically.
For this work I was thinking about the inheritance of information and culture as opposed to a monetary inheritance. Which is what I feel like I received being a second generation immigrant. And then, how do I organize that wealth of culture and information? I titled the show Bart, Beethoven, Wifi, all signifiers for contemporary culture, history and connectivity.
You are also a small business owner with BFGF, and this is a whole other aspect of the unfolding story around the world. How has the pandemic and “shelter in place” affected it?
We are taking precautions when shipping orders. There are no drastic ramifications at the moment, but it’s possible that might change. Things are shifting really quickly. I just bought a sheet of stamps to try and support the US Postal Service. As a small business we really rely on the work they do. 
Okay, let’s get to the silly questions for some very necessary levity: what are the first things you want to do once the pandemic is over?
Not silly! And well, I like silly stuff. I really wanted to go to Hawaii for the first time after I finished the work for my show. So hopefully, I can still go when it’s safe to travel. I also wanted to go to NYC to see some shows, but not sure if they will still be up. It will be interesting to see how museums adjust their programming.
Have you watched/read/seen anything at home that you’d recommend?
I rewatched Candyman on Netflix. It was a movie I really liked as a kid. The sounds and music always stuck with me. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Philip Glass made the music for it. I also really enjoyed Portrait of a Lady on Fire and the show High Fidelity on Hulu. And I rented Knives Out which was funnier than I expected. Oh, I started using Duolingo to try and learn Japanese. It’s hard!
Okay, the Beethoven reference from earlier: What are your go to songs during a shelter-in-place?
I’ve been enjoying an album called Dancehall by The Blaze from 2018. And I like e5, an EP by Ivy Queen from 2006. But, the go-to music is Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata!
Lilian Martinez’s exhibition, Bart, Beethoven, Wifi, is on view on Ochi Gallery, Los Angeles' website.
