Austin Martin White: The lie, the larp and the lusophile

Biography

Born 1984 in Detroit, MI, USA

Lives and works in Philadelphia, PA, USA

Austin Martin White‘s artistic practice explores images that shape our historical memory, drawing on archival research that addresses issues of identity, race and postcolonialism. White received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Cooper Union and holds a Master of Fine Arts in painting from The Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts at Bard College.

Using acrylic, spray-paint, vinyl, 3m reflective fabric and screen mesh mediums, the artist has developed a unique approach that combines paintings and works on paper with printmaking techniques, intertwining his themes with the historical conditions of the materials themselves. The play of references permeating throughout his work operates like active traces that continuously recur in the past and influence the present. The artist explores and reworks images that shape our historical memory, drawing on archival research of 17th and 18th century image production.

White has been included in group exhibitions at the Southampton Arts Center, New York (2025); Oakland University Art Gallery, Rochester (2025); Jewish Museum, New York (2024). White has had solo exhibitions at Petzel, New York (2025 & 2023); Derek Eller Gallery, New York (2023); and Capitain Petzel, Berlin, Germany (2022), as well as at T293, Rome and at Y2K, New York. His work is part of the permanent collection of The Marieluise Hessel Foundation, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson.

White’s work has appeared in numerous publications including The New York Times, Impulse, Artforum, Texte zur Kunst, Flash Art, 032c, and The Observer, among others.