Meet Kuti Martínez | Photographer & Visual Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kuti Martínez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kuti, how has your background shaped the person you are today?

I am a Spanish visual artist and photographer born in Madrid. Art and photography have played a large part in my life.  As a child I lived in a big eclectic world. I come from an artistic background. At the end of Franco’s dictatorship, my father was among the first to explore the arts and thus opened one of the first art galleries in Madrid. Not only he traveled all over the world to collect beautiful pieces of art but he was himself a painter . Our house itself was a beautiful piece of art and always under creative activity.

My mother was the business one of the couple which was quite special during those years; she was an extremely hard working woman. She became later on one of the first woman to ask for divorce in the post franquist Spain.

With my siblings we were explorers and discoverers, emerging in this boiling artistic environment.

Exploring, creating, working with raw materials, looking for beauty and working hard have always been my mantras. As an artist and photographer today, what fascinates me in my work is experimenting different techniques and materials as means of expressions, as photography, moving images, art books, transparencies boxes, cyanotypes, chlorotypes, etc

This comes from my artistic upringing at a specific time in Spain. Living in La Habana and Miami for many years made me look for inspiration in different ways and enjoy my work.

All this is what guides me today as an artist living between Cote d’Azur in France, Madrid and Miami.

Artist/Creative

Please tell us more about your art. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others. What you are most proud of or excited about How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not. how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?

I started my career in Cuba and that was great. Nothing was easy there, and it is one of the things that reminds me a lot. When it was time to prepare an exhibition, shooting, prints, frames, etc…. Everything was an adventure so when you got it, it meant a lot.  Definitely Cuba made me enjoy the process of creating and I discovered the beauty of simplicity shooting daily live. Also living in different countries made me look for inspiration in different ways.

I like to work in the presentation of my artwork. I like small and large formats. I consider more and more working with beautiful materials and photography. They mutually enrich themselves.

I learned along my way that being an artist and living from art is not easy. It is known that all artists are not business people. I love spending time creating, working on materials and photography and less on marketing myself. I prefer to dialogue with my clients through my art than to spend more time on promoting, which is for me like another job which I like less. These are the challenges I have to overcome, step by step . I learned that I have to be open to new ways, without falling into the easy way of social media. I need to find the right balance. A review like yours is an excellent support for me.

Actually I am fascinated with alternative methods. The process of making prints is as important to me as the practice of making the photographs. I experiment using ancient techniques to print, enjoying the imperfections of itself, evoking poetry and delicacy to my artwork.

In my life I consider photography as both a tool for escape and also to be with myself.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

It is wonderful to discover Miami from the sea. I would invite my friends from a boat, ride under MacArthur Bridge, have lunch in the Marina in Biscayne park, go for a swim in the east side, reach the stiltsville and Soldier Island, come back along the Grooves, stop for a happy hour in Coconut Grove marina.

Another day drive in Biscayne Bay though the Venetian Island and stop for lunch at the Standard and discover Miami Beach

On shore with a car, Little Habana, Winwood and some original bars and restaurants closed to North Miami Avenue.

Bike rides under the beautiful banyan trees in Coconut Groove and along the canals on the sunrise into the Matheson Park

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?

I think of 3 people.

My father with a complicated personality, who gave me his passion for art.

Tomas Inda, who endlessly helped me and encouraged me to start my career as a photographer in Cuba.

My brother Hugo, a genius sculptor with limited mobility who never ceases to create.

Website: kutimartinez.com

Instagram: @kutiphotos