back to that at some point I think first
the beginning I am from Cuba and my name
is Roberto Martinez and I was born in a
very small village in the middle of the
countryside middle of nowhere really
that was a tractor driver and so were my
two older brothers by like hustling or
according to plan for me the end up
being an artist kids we used to you know
do what the kids do in that sort of
environment play kill little birds we
used to do hunting riding horses and I
so many things but one thing I remember
very well is we used to get herself
inside one of these big tractor tires –
inside around that hill I’d say
astronauts hadn’t go better training
than that then after finishing school I
was about to start working in the local
farm first would be a mechanic then I
would probably end up being a tractor
driver or something related to that when
I heard news about our Academy in
somewhere else in a town far away from a
village you say since I was a kid I
always liked drawing and painting I used
to cover most of my notebooks with
little drawings of cars or trains I used
to cross him in my village in front of
my house all the sort of things so
investigating a little bit more about
this place I found out that we needed to
do some EDX and entry exams sorry
so I got a role in the our local
institution which wasn’t that local this
was about very much for him and I
started preparing myself to do the test
so that was 30 mile trip in my bike
because in das sort of day we haven’t
got public transport there seriously it
was cycling all the time and three
months of very hard work getting to know
the basic of drawing painting a little
bit of sculpture a tiny bit about art
and but I did pay off I passed the
entrance ramps in the ER Academy and I
was offered a place this is cool Oscar
Fernandez murderer is
our Academy in Trinidad in Cuba lovely
place one of the first village founded
by the Spanish thank you in Cuba this is
especially a night under places Marty
you go cobble Street 300 year old
buildings is fantastic
so in 1996 I find myself in a brand new
place away from my home our Academy we
used to live eat and sleep in it that
was a big problem because most of my
secondary year was painting that similar
environment there were all the too many
inches as I said before this one 1993
three years after the collapse of the
Soviet Union and the halls the whole
East Bloc as you remember and things got
tough in Cuba they go really bad
economically we had the bases covered in
school which was fine but no lot else
and there were times when I thought hard
enough I maybe just wanted to just go
back feel a bit more safe into my
country life he was in he didn’t happen
either
the second was art it’s a difficult
question what art about when you get a
17 year old guy okay and you put an
environment when you have to now do
something with your art you know the
craftsmen you turn just to the drawings
you have to do art what is it how do you
manage at that age to start telling
yourself what art is about three months
into my first years I wanted to quit
seriously I just oh I can’t deal with it
I gonna go back do something with my
life work in the fields whatever
thankfully my head teacher convinced me
otherwise
and what follow was for years and of
accelerating learning making friends
changing my whole life he was a bit like
the matrix at the red pill or the blue
pill I went for one event and a wish but
the point is you are really
life changing experience and I spent
four years in a really great environment
with wonderful teachers we should we say
the quality of the teaching Cuba she
would never be on the estimated they are
brilliant they managed to channel the
leader Italian we had and then trying to
make us see the war with the different
beer you know
they taught us about our history about
painting sculpture aesthetics chemistry
physics you name it it was fantastic
they didn’t give up on us although some
of us wanted to go wanted to just change
and for that I’m really really grateful
in 2004
I came to England I didn’t just much in
myself a horse won I come in a plane
then I find myself in a very different
environment different language different
sense of humor different loads of things
and I just went blank for the next three
years I couldn’t draw I couldn’t paint I
couldn’t manage to do anything it was
like a I don’t know like a facing a
white wall and watching paint dry
it’s where I needed this to change
somehow and you know life have a
tendency of fixing yourself as we say my
country and then it happened in 2007 I
was invited to my first ever Brighton
Festival I don’t know most of you are
local you know the Brighton Festival
very well in this case all neighbor
managed to organize her we used to do in
the block of flour used to live and I
happened that I had to paint and I
brought over from Cuba after well you
know just gonna put them on and see what
can be worse and I saw them both I
couldn’t believe it gonna be interesting
this little paintings but I saw them
both Wow brilliant and then back to the
day job in those three years had also a
job working as a cleaner decorator in
sandwich places you name your project on
that but in the next year after my first
show I was invited to another hour
show in again the Brighton Festival by
one of the lovely kappa who bought one
of my paintings in this case I didn’t
had any painters left so I had to start
creating something but I thought okay
I’m gonna do something with the stories
I brought over from my country and a
little bit of my experience about living
here so far
so I created five paintings for this
show and it was good it was a really
really good experience we had a good
show Hassan sells but more important
that really drove me into try be harder
it kind of ignite the fuse in terms of
okay let’s do let’s start doing
backs to that which is what I want to
talk a little bit now because so far
I’ll tell you roughly I mean we haven’t
got time to tell you all the stories
really but so far I tell you how I go
here now easily bit about the creative
process which is I think is quite
important when we encounter art in any
context we see an rtii life story in a
way from very early in the human race we
think back to the caveman we used to
have this kind of guy just picking up a
piece of shark or and drawing in the
cave there are we hunting scenes animals
themself everything we try to depict the
wall around us so what are trying to do
with my work is similar thing I’ll start
with the image the image is going to be
the basics of everything that’s going to
go on top of it how to be the right one
must be related to an idea whatever idea
half at the moment and then the next
process is transferring that image two
cameras in pencil I had to draw
everything I need to do with pencil and
a night because I find the neurons are a
bit more deserted at that time a bit of
room helps but it’s not essential but
heavy metal is I find that I’ve pretty
good and death by that but I listened to
lore heavy metal while I’m drawing once
the main structure is done the next step
is tough finding the little elements it
can
animals can be mechanical stuff can be a
bit of everything that it will help me
to tell you the story because there is
always a story behind every painting
that I do or at least are trying to once
their whole drawing is done then we go
back to the oil on camp as part of the
process if the drawing was a bit of a
you know a relentless array of sleepless
nights and a bit of alimony Hanover’s
painting is different painting is very
joyful is daytime by the way I usually
painted at that time there is no
substitute to natural light are trying
to paint it a night sometime it just
hasn’t worked I cannot get the colors
right and then I keep working on that
picture until I feel that is done until
I think okay this is according to my
possibilities my skills at the moment
there is nothing as I can do to improve
it and then I can relax have another sip
of rum and just chill the process is
quite important for me is not just about
the final work what I try to say is
every painting is a story every plane to
have a beginning and he has an end and
have a reason that is always a story
behind everything and they are all
related to my own life how I see the
wall around me and it’s also influenced
by all this lovely people who have met
all over the years in my travels and
every of one of them has some traces of
those people and one final thing I want
to address in this big thing of art is
the public I do believe the artist know
more than just a way of communicating
between human beings
some people do story some people do
writing oral stories music dance etc
some people talk among each other we
artists we are the little ones most of
the time we just want to be left in the
corner in a dark room no sorry light
room working away this is our way of
communicating it might be a bit more
than that but for me that’s the basics I
want to tell you a story I want to tell
you how
see my surrounding how I see the world
the illogical logic of his whole how I
want to create a different kind of an
landscape in the kind of traditional
environment but things that make you
think about who we are how we end up
here or what are we going so for that is
very important we we need you to finish
off the circle we need you to interact
with the art so it can become a dialogue
otherwise will be just a monologue so
we’re gonna be just talking to yourself
really other thing anybody just do a
painting to put in their own room we all
want to put in somewhere when you can
interact with that you can learn
something from it take something from it
when you go home that’s why some of us
have to paint muchas gracias oh by the
way I can see Dava tractor thank you
[Applause]
[Music] [Applause]