Gutierrez, Martine

American, 21st century, female.

Active in Brooklyn (New York).

Born 1989, in Berkeley (California).

Mixed media artist, portraitist, video and performance artist.

Born in Berkeley, Martine Gutierrez moved with her mother to central Vermont early in her childhood. She attended the Rhode Island School of Design, graduating with a BFA in Printmaking in 2012. Born male, Gutierrez has identified as a gender-fluid individual for the majority of her life, and this interest in the borderlands of the expression of gender fluidity is inherent in her visual practice. Although her work utilises a variety of media including self-portraiture, video, fashion, music, and performance art, the body and persona of the artist are at the centre of her practice.

When depicting herself in her work, Gutierrez presents a visually and sensually hyper-feminine persona in a variety of cinematic guises and implied narratives. Self-portraiture, where the artist embodies a variety of different characters is a richly explored trope in contemporary art, but Gutierrez adds depth to her work by highlighting the performative nature of gender.

Although Gutierrez is usually the focal point of the image, acting as both muse and executor of the work, she has utilised mannequins within the shoot as an accompaniment or foil to her character. This interest in dolls and mannequins extends from childhood, and the artist remembers asking for a mannequin when all of her peers were begging for iPods. For example, in the series Line Up (2014), Gutierrez poses herself among clusters of similarly dressed mannequins. The various outfits are traditionally sexy: schoolgirls, debutantes, and Leeloo from the 1997 sci-fi film The Fifth Element, a major inspiration for Gutierrez. Upon first glance it is difficult to determine which of the figures is the artist, her svelte body blends seamlessly among the dolls. This effortless shape-shifting between what we consider artificial and real, highlights how the performance of femininity can be a powerful guise, a boundary that Gutierrez crosses both gleefully and with deft visual skill.

In addition to her visually based practice, Gutierrez also writes and performs music as Martine, with her original tracks featured in videos produced by major fashion brands, including Dior, Saint Laurent Paris, and Acne Studios. She has also starred in campaigns for fashion companies, including one for Camper with fellow trans artist Hari Nef.