Celebrated artist lectures on 'seriousness of pursuit,' importance of the 'artist-prophet'
Jasmine Maharisi
Issue date: 10/6/09 Section: News
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Martinez Celaya planned on making the trip 23 years ago, before the creation of his publishing company, Whale and Star. This was also before his work became a part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's permanent collection and exhibitions in Germany, Mexico and the United Kingdom.
Martinez Celaya came to see French painter William Adolphe Bouguereau's "The Return of Spring." The famous piece depicts a Venus figure standing outside surrounded by several cherubs.
Martinez Celaya took a picture of the painting then-not knowing that photography is not permitted inside the galleries- and, 23 years later, showed it to his audience at his lecture "The Prophet" on Friday.
The lecture, which included a question and answer forum, is one of his responsibilities as presidential professor. Martinez Celaya, going into his third year as presidential professor, comes to UNO every semester for one week to give a lecture and to talk with students about his experiences as a world-renowned artist.
He also hosts interns every summer at his studio, allowing them to gain the experience of working with an artist and witnessing the inner workings of the art industry.
"Although art has nothing to add to the great beauty of sunsets or breezes over wheat fields, it can suggest the order in which the vast scale fits," Martinez Celaya said while presenting his photo of the painting to the audience on a projector screen.
Natural origins and the order of things are two of many subjects on the long list of Martinez Celaya's areas of expertise. He attended Cornell University and pursued a doctorate in applied physics - an area that is usually void of artists.
But Martinez Celaya doesn't think a diploma from a university is all it takes to make an artist an artist. According to him, the defining moments of a young artist's experience are focused on the student's "seriousness of pursuit."
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