Reprint f rom The October Cycle, Pages 12-29, 2003: “The October Cycle , 2000-2002,” Daniel A. Siedel l

E N R I Q U E M A R T Í N E Z C E L A Y A

T H E O C T O B E R C Y C L E , 2 0 0 0 - 2 0 0 2

Today, to c la im any signi f icance or meaning, even i f only to

ourselves, is to f l i r t wi th r id icule.

—Enrique Mart ínez Celaya, 1998

In the last analysis man has no more knowledge of h imsel f than

mastery over himsel f . Again and again he must let h imsel f be

shown who he is.

—Karl Barth, 1961

We are al l l i teral ists most or a l l of our l ives.

Presentness is grace.

—Michael Fr ied, 1967

T H E O C T O B E R C Y C L E , 2 0 0 0 – 2 0 0 2

D A N I E L A . S I E D E L L

The preacher in the book of Ecclesiastes writes that there is a time for everything,

“a time to be silent and a time to speak,” and later warns, “[D]raw near to hear

rather than to give the sacrifice of fools” (Eccles. 3.7, 5.1). It will be useful to

consider this ancient wisdom as we explore Enrique Martínez Celaya’s October

Cycle. The contemporary art world seems to demand that we “give the sacrifice of

fools,” which produces a constant chatter that often drowns out the still, small voice

of aesthetic presence. The literary critic George Steiner has gone so far as to argue

that the prevalence of such interpretive discourse is intended to insulate us from

the radical effects of encountering the Other manifest in aesthetic form and the

scary proposition that it might change our lives, “convert” us in unforeseen

ways. Talk, interpretation, and criticism have often served to domesticate, tame,

and even mute the power and impact of art, reducing it to just another text that

engenders yet more discourse.

Enrique Martínez Celaya’s October Cycle, 2000–2002, offers an explicit,

if unconscious, challenge to the monotonous discourse that textualizes

the experience of visual art and converts it into an aesthetic illustration of critical

theory or philosophy. The October Cycle also marks a shift in the artist’s own

aesthetic development.

1

Martínez Celaya’s Honolulu retrospect ive exhibi t ion of 2001 chal lenged

him in important ways. Perhaps the scope of the task of “def in ing” nine years

of his art is t ic l i fe (1992–2000) as “s igni f icant” and “ important” had the

reverse effect of p r oduc i ng a sense o f i n com p l e teness . The Oc t obe r

Cycle’s exclusive focus on twenty-two large-scale paintings from 2000–2002 is an

attempt to drill to the core of Martínez Celaya’s art and life.

The medium of painting occupies a tenuous position in the contemporary

art wor ld. Unless i t is used to reveal i ts own art i f ice, paint ing seems unable

to keep up w i th scu lp tu re and pho tography as a su i tab le fo rm fo r

the express ion o f postmodern cr i t i ca l d iscourse. I t i s apropos, then,

that an art ist who holds on to such current ly unfashionable concepts as

mora l i t y, e th ics , and t ru th wou ld use a s im i la r l y uncommon and

unfashionable medium to reveal the relat ionship between his aesthet ic and

l i fe projects. The cr i t ic Donald B. Kuspi t has observed that paint ing has the

“power to evoke and convey what is subject ively fundamental in human

exper ience” and that at i ts best i t “can become an expression of personhood

and indiv idual i ty.” I t is not i r re levant, then, that Mart ínez Celaya views

himsel f f i rst and foremost as a painter.

Mar t ínez Celaya has used a modern is t s t ra tegy for preserv ing h is

aesthet ic in tegr i ty by gu id ing the cr i t ica l recept ion to h is work, whether

through insta l l ing h is own exhib i t ions, grant ing in terv iews, g iv ing lectures,

or wr i t ing poet ry and prose. But the October Cyc le suggests a sh i f t in th is

pract ice. And Mar t ínez Celaya’s publ icat ion of Guide , which accompanied

the f i rs t publ ic exh ib i t ion of the pa in t ings in the October Cyc le , might be

an a t tempt to fo rce h imse l f ou ts ide the deep grooves o f the cur ren t

in terpret ive f rameworks wi th in which h is work res ides, f rameworks he is

large ly responsib le for estab l ish ing. A l though i t does not seek to “exp la in”

h is cur ren t work , Guide makes unden iab ly exp l i c i t the a r t i s t ’s o f ten

over looked concern wi th e th ics , mora l i ty, and the sp i r i tua l .

The October Cycle represents Martínez Celaya’s desire to find sp i r i tua l

p resence by exp lo r i ng t he immanen t and the t r anscenden t t h rough

the mater ia ls o f pa in t ing. Whatever e lse i t does, the October Cyc le evokes

a sac ramen ta l qua l i t y t ha t con t ras t s sha rp l y w i t h t he secu la r i sm

o f much con tempora ry a r t wo r l d d i scou rse , f o l l ow ing , i n t he

end , W i t t gens te in ’s asse r t i on t ha t t he ex i s tence o f e th i cs and

mora l i ty cannot be log ica l ly proved but on ly observed. The pa in t ings in

the October Cyc le are aesthet ic sacraments that br ing for th Mar t ínez

Celaya’s e m e r g i n g w o r l d v i e w.

2

3

4

Who Is Enr ique Mart ínez Celaya?

Two essent ia l components are crucial to understanding Enr ique Mart ínez

Celaya: h is ident i ty as an ex i le and h is in terest in phys ics ( f ig . 1) .

Mart ínez Celaya has always def ined himsel f as an exi le. He was born

in Cuba in 1964 and raised in Cuba, Spain, and Puerto Rico. His fami ly ’s

move to Spain f rom Cuba was a catastrophic event in his l i fe: in Guide ,

the art ist confesses to his conversat ion partner Thomas, “ I th ink I leaped

from a cl i ff when we lef t Cuba and the fa l l , which took twenty years, shrunk

my capaci ty to focus on the present” (18). As the Palest in ian l i terary and

cul tural cr i t ic Edward Said has observed, an exi le is s imultaneously at home

and homeless in the wor ld. This has affected every aspect of Mart ínez

Celaya’s art and l i fe. He observes, “My exi le makes me a stranger to mysel f ,

a suspic ious foreigner” (Guide , 24). Art is the means by which he has

attempted to reconci le himsel f to himsel f and f ind a home, a dwel l ing. I t is

wi th in th is context that h is much commented-on interest in explor ing memory

and nostalgia must be interpreted. His interest in the past is in the service of

recover ing i t , even i f that recovery is part ia l or d istorted.

The aes the t i c ian Pau l Crowther has a rgued tha t memory,

both “voluntary” and “ involuntary,” p lays a fundamental ro le in aesthet ic

form. For Crowther invo luntary memory, a l though more ephemera l , is

a lso more power fu l because “ i t does no t dea l w i th schemat ic fac ts

sub jec t to immed ia te reca l l , bu t invo lves , ra ther, more ind i rec t

and p ro found sense o f t imes , p laces , fee l ings , and s i tua t ions ,

which are involuntar i ly t r iggered in response to i tems or events associated

w i th those t imes , p laces , fee l ings , e tc . ” Mar t ínez Ce laya ’s

ear ly work plumbs the depths of voluntary and involuntary memory in an

a t tempt to g ive mean ing to h is pas t by cons t ruc t ing a nar ra t i ve o f

h is l i fe.

An important theme that reoccurs in Mart ínez Celaya’s aesthet ic

explorat ion of h is past is spir i tual presence, whether in the unique Caribbean

mani festat ion of h is fami ly ’s Roman Cathol ic ism and thei r forays in to

the occu l t and Santer ia , o r th rough the a r t i s t ’s own in te res t in

German idea l i s t and romant ic ph i losophers , composers , poe ts , and

painters. A key theme for Mart ínez Celaya is recover ing the v i ta l i ty of

p resence, the sp i r i tua l , mys t ica l , mag ica l , and d iv ine made man i fes t

through the ar t i facts and r i tua ls ( re l ig ious and in te l lectual ) that were

ubiqui tous throughout his chi ldhood and imbued his l i fe wi th meaning, order,

and substance.

5

6

FIGURE 1. PHOTOGRAPH OF THE ARTIST.LOS ANGELES STUDIO, 2002.

Martínez Celaya’s intel lectual precoci ty was discovered at a very ear ly

age, part icular ly as i t re lated to his apt i tude for physics. He recal ls that as

a young chi ld he would of ten avoid stressful fami ly encounters by spending

the af ternoon in his room designing exper iments. He served as valedictor ian

of his high school and received a scholarship to study physics at Cornel l

Universi ty. Af ter receiv ing his undergraduate degree at Cornel l , Mart ínez

Celaya matr iculated at the Universi ty of Cal i fornia–Berkeley, in one of the

world’s foremost physics graduate programs. Throughout his studies at

Cornel l and Berkeley, however, Mart ínez Celaya remained interested in art

and pursued i t as t ime permit ted.

Science appealed to Mart ínez Celaya because of i ts c lar i ty and i ts

ins t i tu t iona l ized be l ie f in—and search for—tru th . But h is love for ar t

gradual ly surpassed his love for physics. In response to Thomas’s quest ion

about why the art ist d id not pursue physics, Mart ínez Celaya responds, “ I

loved phys ics bu t the ques t ions tha t s ta r ted to p re-occupy me then

didn’ t have scient i f ic answers” (Guide , 38). Comparing art to science,

the art ist observes, “ [ I ]n art , I confronted my l i fe and tr ied to process i t ,

and in physics, I t r ied to detach mysel f f rom my l i fe and f i nd a purer place,

a place that was less compl icated and less compromised” (Guide , 24).

But, “as I got o lder, i t became more di ff icul t to leave my l i fe at the door

of the lab. In art , everything could be brought in” (Guide , 37). A turn to

a r t was consequent ly a tu rn toward h is persona l d i f f i cu l t ies , toward

confront ing his ident i ty as an exi le and his complex and confusing chi ldhood,

al l as part of the process of d iscover ing who he was and who he might

be . For Mar t ínez Ce laya a r t was the on ly means to o rder how he

was exper ienc ing the wor ld—to app ly the cosmic order and meaning

he discovered in physics to his own l i fe. But br inging everything to art

and us ing i t to con f ron t h is l i fe has p roved jus t as d i f f i cu l t and

a rduous as leav ing h is l i fe a t the door o f h is lab in Berke ley

or Brookhaven.

Although he ult imately chose to pursue art rather than physics, Martínez

Celaya did not choose the “personal” or “subject ive” over the “universal” or

“object ive.” He carr ied the scient i f ic quest for object iv i ty, universal i ty, and

truth into his art-making. For Mart ínez Celaya art is not about emot ing

or ce lebra t ing the “ar t i f i ce” o f representa t ion but ra ther about us ing

aesthet ic form to reveal t ruth. And truth for Mart ínez Celaya is not merely

l inguist ic or mathematical , but existent ia l , incorporat ing both the object ive

and subject ive.

Before he could engage in the ar t is t ic quest for t ru th v ia aesthet ic

form, Mar t ínez Celaya had to s t ruggle through h is past : he d id th is

by da r t i ng back and fo r th f rene t i ca l l y be tween pa in t i ng , wa te rco lo r,

photography, scu lp ture, and insta l la t ion, a l l the whi le cr i t iqu ing, exp lor ing,

and quest ion ing. The turn ing po in t in th is process might be found in

the insta l la t ion Coming Home (2000) , in which a tar red-and- feathered

boy and e lk conf ront each other ( f ig . 2) . In the insta l la t ion, the boy

faces the e l k : be tween i t s an t l e r s i s pe rched a m i r ro r,

t he c l ass i c v i sua l t r ope a l l ud ing to se l f - r e f l ec t i on . Coming Home

lays the groundwork lays the groundwork on which the October Cyc le

i s bu i l t . I t ob ject i f ies the re la t ionship between se l f and Other in the

most mater ia l ly d i rect manner poss ib le through showing two beings—a

human and a beast—confront ing one another. The use o f mater ia ls o f

“ shame” ( t a r and fea the rs ) adds to t he awkward and tens ion - f i l l ed

con f ron ta t i on . And i t i s i n t h i s con f ron ta t i on , whe re t he p resence

of the Other is engaged face- to- face, that Mar t ínez Celaya seems to

be sh i f t ing away f rom h is prev ious work, f rom us ing ar t to recover and

work through the past to us ing i t as a quest to engage the present and the

future. Th is seems to be the reason for the pa lpable sense of the sacred or

the l i turg ica l in Coming Home .

FIGURE 2. ENRIQUE MARTÍNEZ CELAYA, COMING HOME, 2000.TAR, FEATHERS , METAL , WOOD, AND MIRROR . 96 x 96 x 160 IN.COLLECTION OF DIETER AND SI ROSENKRANZ, BERLIN.

FIGURE 4. ENRIQUE MARTÍNEZ CELAYA, SAINT CATHERINE (SPIRIT), 1997.POLYESTER RESIN AND SILK FLOWER. 7 x 9 x 9 IN.COLLECTION OF HEIDI STEIGER, NEW YORK.

FIGURE 3. ENRIQUE MARTÍNEZ CELAYA, PENA (SORROW) , 1997-1999OIL, TAR, AND OBJECTS ON CANVAS, 84 x 100 IN.COLLECTION OF ANDREA KING, LOS ANGELES.

The sacred and the l i turg ical are omnipresent , i f understated or

deemphasized, themes throughout Martínez Celaya’s early work. Indeed, much

of his early work, part icular ly his paint ings, serves an iconic funct ion,

emphasizing the spiritual and sacred component of his role as an artist

and the presence in the works of art he creates. For example, Pena (Sorrow)

suggests a sacramental act of blessing or forgiveness (f ig. 3), while St.

Catherine (Spirit) functions as a sacred relic (f ig. 4) and Frankness (Work of

Mercy) depicts the artist engaged in a ceremonial r i tual (f ig. 5). Before

acquiring Thing and Deception (f ig. 6) for the Sheldon’s permanent collection,

I put to Martínez Celaya a series of questions about the condit ion of the

painting. He responded: “Over the years it has developed cracks that I

f ind wonderful—the fragil i ty and aging of the object directly interact with

the image and the suggestions of memory and mortality that are invoked

by the covered rabbit.” The work i tsel f , then, is an icon, created for

devotional use.

7

FIGURE 5. ENRIQUE MARTÍNEZ CELAYA, FRANKNESS (MERCY), 2000.ACRYLIC ON SILVER GELATIN PRINT. 60 x 30 IN.NEUBERGER BERMAN COLLECTION.

FIGURE 6. ENRIQUE MARTÍNEZ CELAYA, THING AND DECEPTION, 1997.OIL ON CANVAS. 88 x 78 IN.COLLECTION OF SHELDON MEMORIAL ART GALLERY ANDSCULPTURE GARDEN, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN.GIFT OF MR. AND MRS. GOLDBERG BY EXCHANGE..

Mart ínez Celaya’s s tud io on Nor th La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles

is noth ing i f no t a sacred space set apar t fo r the ser ious labor o f

sp i r i tua l work. Wr i t ten in marker on the wal l o f th is space is the same

inscr ip t ion that has sanct i f ied a l l h is s tud ios: “Keep your act ions fa i th fu l . ”

Th is invests even the most s imple and banal o f “ar t - re la ted” act ions

w i t h sac red mean ing (figs. 7, 8). The a r t i s t ’s use o f mus i c wh i l e

he works, par t icu lar ly Beethoven and Mozar t ’s haunt ing Requiem Mass ,

f u r t he r sanc t i f i es h i s space . He has even sanc t i f i ed pub l i c

exh ib i t i on spaces : a t t he f i r s t show ing o f pa in t i ngs f r om the

Octobe r Cyc le , a t G r i f f i n Con tempora ry A r t , i n Ven i ce , Ca l i f o rn ia ,

Margo Timmins of the Cowboy Junk ies “consecrated” the ga l lery space

wi th an a cappel la per formance of the haunt ing sp i r i tua l “Min ing for

Go ld , ” wh i ch t he band reco rded on the i r 1988 a lbum, en t i t l ed

Tr in i ty Sess ion .

8

FIGURE 8. VENICE STUDIO, 2001.

FIGURE 7. PHOTOGRAPH OF ARTIST IN LOS ANGELESSTUDIO, 2002.

What Is the October Cycle?

The new d i rec t ion represen ted in the October Cyc le i s d ramat ica l l y

i l lus t ra ted by is dramat ica l ly i l lus t ra ted by the fo l lowing anecdote: For

some t ime, severa l co l lec tors had been cons ider ing purchas ing a large

whi te pa in t ing of Mar t ínez Celaya’s that exp lored the ar t is t ’s ch i ldhood

exper iences growing up in the Car ibbean. The ar t is t rece ived a ca l l f rom

his dealer request ing that he d isp lay the pa in t ing so a co l lec tor could come

by the s tud io to v iew i t , but before the co l lec tor even had a chance to see

the pa in t ing, the ar t is t had repainted i t , focus ing on a new in terest , h is

baby daughter, Gabr ie la . Gabr ie la (F i rs t ) features a f igure e i ther throwing

or catch ing a baby who seems to hover suspended in the a i r.

I f the origins of this paint ing can be taken as emblematic of the October

Cycle , then we may conc lude that the past now seems to have less of a

hold on Mar t ínez Celaya. Indeed, in response to Thomas’s quest ion about

whether he has “s topped fa l l ing” a f ter leav ing Cuba, he says, “ [ I ] t fee ls

d i f ferent now” (Guide , 18) .

Mar t ínez Celaya is drawn to the work of the remarkable but large ly

unknown Swedish myst ic Hi lma Af K l in t , who, a t the turn of the twent ie th

century, pa in ted s tunning abst ract pa in t ings but was re luctant to show them

to the publ ic because she in tended them to be exhibited as a complete

body, an aesthetic universe, as it were. Al though he says that he does not

understand the spec i f ic iconographica l meaning of Af K l in t ’s pa in t ings,

Mar t ínez Celaya has observed that when he v iews them, he fee ls as i f he

were in the presence of a cosmic order, a system of thought and express ion

that is “ r ight . ” The October Cyc le i s l ike ly to produce a s imi lar fee l ing

in v iewers. A l though the or ig in o f the October Cyc le lay in a poem, the

paint ings are not l i terary ; nor do they narrate, a l though lay in a poem,

the pa in t ings are not l i terary ; nor do they narrate, a l though the i r imagery

i s f undamen ta l l y f i gu ra t i ve . I ns tead , t hey f unc t i on as i cons , an

aesthet ic form that inv i tes contemplat ion of the t ranscendent through

the immanent . For Mar t ínez Celaya the October Cyc le is not mere ly

a re f lec t ion on “sp i r i tua l i ty ” in genera l but on how and in what ways h is l i fe

is sacramenta l .

The pa in t ings in the October Cyc le , then, do not speak the i r in f luence

or articulate their aesthetic and philosophical debts in the same manner as had

such previous works of Martínez Celaya’s as La Otra Prisión (The Other Prison)

1992, which recalls the influence of Germans Joseph Beuys and Anselm Kiefer

9

FIGURE 9. ENRIQUE MARTÍNEZ CELAYA,LA OTRA PRISIÓN (THE OTHER PRISON), 1992.OIL AND WAX ON CANVAS WITH LIGHTS. 70 x 45 IN.COLLECTION OF ENRIQUE M ARTÍNEZ CELAYA AND ALEXANDRA WILLIAMS, LOS ANGELES

in i ts conceptual ism and a lchemica l approach to mater ia ls ( f ig . 9) . Beuys

and Kiefer f igure prominent ly in Mar t ínez Celaya’s ear ly in terest in h is own

his tory and wi th memory and nosta lg ia , but K ie fer ’s “undecidabi l i ty ” and

Beuys ’s “amb igu i t y, ” echoes o f wh ich a re ev iden t i n h i s Th ing and

Decept ion , seem conspicuously absent in h is recent pa in t ings. But what ,

then, is the October Cyc le ’s lex icon?

The f i rs t and most obv ious is b lack. Mar t ínez Celaya has observed that

he thought that he had moved beyond b lack af ter h is own “Black Paint ings”

of the ear ly 1990s, but , as he says, i t cont inues to come back ( f ig . 10) . The

blackness in the October Cyc le reca l ls the backdrops of Goya’s t rag ic

Black Paint ings and perhaps even Ad Reinhardt ’s use of b lack as an

absolute negat ion of a l l that gets in the way of the aesthet ic . The b lack in

Mar t ínez Celaya’s pa in t ings does indeed s ignal that someth ing of ter r ib le

impor tance is mani fest . In the October Cyc le black serves to a l ter the

envi ronment , to s ignal a change in context : th is is par t icu lar ly ev ident

when the pa in t ings are shown together. B lack serves a lso to s igna l

formal i ty, perhaps separat ing the exh ib i t ion space f rom the wor ld . I t

suggests s i lence, not that which ter r i f ied Pascal and Kierkegaard and

which is communicated in Goya’s B lack Paint ings, but one of focused

contemplat ive dwel l ing in the presence of the sacred.

This b lack is not a tmospher ic but th ick and v iscous, as is emphasized

in the s t icky and murky tact i l i ty o f the tar and impasto o i l pa in t on canvas

or ve lvet ( f ig . 11) . I t does not funct ion s imply as a formal dev ice—

a compos i t i ona l backd rop—bu t ca l l s a t t en t i on t o t he phys i ca l i t y o f

pa in t , to the un ique capac i ty o f mat te r to evoke the immater ia l . In

a l l sac red l i t u rg i ca l r i t ua l s , ob jec t s—usua l l y t he mos t bana l and

absurd—take on s ign i f icant meaning. The October Cyc le i s r i fe wi th such

objects , such as the ra inbow that suggests hope, the g iant conch shel l

that evokes soul and depth, and the bubble that re f lec ts p layfu lness.

For Mar t ínez Celaya, then, b lack serves to underscore two e lements

t ha t Kusp i t has desc r i bed as f undamen ta l t o au then t i ca l l y sp i r i t ua l

a r t : s i lence, or the capac i ty to d is t ingu ish the exper ience o f ar t as

separate f rom the banal i ty and no ise of the wor ld ; and a lchemy, the

a r t i s t ’s ab i l i t y t o t r ans fo rm common ma te r i a l s i n to va luab le means

for t ranscendence.

In cont rast to the murky and mater ia l is t ic b lackness of these pa in t ings,

the f igures in them are luminous. A subt le g low appears to back l ight the

f igures, lending to them an in tens i f ied aura of dramat ic charge.

10

FIGURE 10. ENRIQUE MARTÍNEZ CELAYA, THE TROUBLE WITH MEMORY, 1993.OIL, WAX, SILK FLOWERS, AND VELVET ON CANVAS. 78 x 66 IN.PRIVATE COLLECTION, LONDON.

German cu l t u re has p rov ided Mar t í nez Ce laya w i th a dynamic

repos i tory o f “depar t ing metaphors” for h is ar t and poet ry. The ar t is t was

exposed to German ar t and l i terature as par t o f h is ch i ldhood educat ion,

and Schopenhauer, Wi t tgenste in , Nietzsche, Hegel , Paul Celan, Mozar t ,

and Beethoven f igure prominent ly, a l though ind i rect ly, in h is work. He

seems in terested in these f igures for two reasons. F i rs t , he is a t t racted

to t he se r i ousness w i t h wh i ch German a r t i s t s , poe ts , and th inke rs

take Being, becoming, and the impact o f t ime as a const i tuent component

of the unfo ld ing of meaning. Second, he is drawn to these ar t is t - th inkers

as peop le , i n te res ted i n t he re la t i onsh ip be tween the i r a r t

and the i r l ives. He has thus been drawn to the Holocaust surv ivor and

ex i le Celan ’s quest to wrest the German language f rom the abyss of

Nazism; to the pecul iar e th ics and ascet ic ism of Wi t tgenste in ; and f ina l ly,

and most recent ly, to Beethoven’s deathbed, where the composer re f lec ted

on h is l i fe , h is ar t , and h is sp i r i tua l dest iny, whi le a t the same t ime serv ing

as a “ l iv ing” re l ic for h is admirers . Mar t ínez Celaya’s t r ip to Germany

in 1998 cu lminated in the ar t is t book Ber l in , which features photographs

taken i n Be r l i n and f ragmen ts f r om h i s ske tchbooks wr i t t en

between March and August 1998 that serve as “moments of be l ie f ” (p . 12;

see f ig . 12) .

In Guide , Thomas asks the ar t is t why he is in terested in Beethoven.

He responds:

I : People l ike Beethoven br ing me c loser to the moments that

you’re speaking about . I th ink there’s something to understand

the re—some ins igh t—in a g rea t man dy ing w i t h bedso res on

h is back.

He: Why Beethoven?

I : Bee thoven and h is mus ic span someth ing o f a un iverse

of opt ions between the subl ime, the ab ject , the nosta lg ic and the

mora l . Somewhere in there is the mystery o f l i fe , and not jus t h is

l i fe . For me, Beethoven’s las t moments is the means to someth ing,

not the end. (112)

But it is the October Cycle paintings themselves, not the artist’s statements

about them, that wil l suggest the ends. And it appears from my vantage point

that the ends might be even more ambitious and consequential than even

Martínez Celaya is wil l ing to acknowledge. Is it possible that his art suggests a

11

confrontat ion wi th presence that he unconsciously def lects through his

f luency in phi losophical and poet ic language? From this perspect ive, Guide

cannot be made to “exp la in ” Mar t ínez Ce laya ’s pa in t ings . In fac t , i t

is probable that the art ist ’s ident i ty is constructed through both characters,

“He” and “ I , ” thus echoing the pattern of Jorge Luis Borges’s famous

story “Borges and I . ”

The October Cycle begs to be exper ienced, not interpreted; i ts hor izons

of meaning and signi f icance are expanded, not restr icted, not even by

the art ist ’s own eloquent and insightfu l statements. I am convinced that

Mar t ínez Ce laya recogn izes th is . The c r i t i c ’s respons ib i l i t y, fo l low ing

Kuspi t , is to keep the art ist f rom l imi t ing the scope of h is or her art , to

wres t i t f rom the grasp o f even the we l l - in ten t ioned ar t i s t , in o rder

to demonstrate how i t might have universal meaning. The October Cycle

embodies th is cr i t ical sensibi l i ty of universal i ty.

The iconography of the October Cycle is , l ike that of Kl int ’s work,

in tense ly persona l and h igh ly id iosyncra t i c . Nonethe less , because o f

the deep cu l tu ra l mean ing o f such e lements as the fo res t , b i rches ,

ra inbows, and l ight , the October Cycle seems to invi te the k ind of deep

“e tymolog ica l ” a rchaeo logy tha t Mar t in He idegger per fo rmed on the

German language in order to tease out echoes of Being. Despite the importance

of this endeavor, this essay is not the place to unpack his fascinating

iconography. Rather, I suggest a framework for experiencing these works that is

rooted not in philosophy and aesthetics, but in spirituality.

The Sheldon’s instal lat ion of October Cycle corresponds to three

manifestat ions of the spir i tual as art iculated by the sociologist Robert

Wuthnow in h is revea l ing s tudy o f pos twar sp i r i tua l i t y in the

U.S. Wuthnow’s categor ies are: dwel l ing, seeking, and pract ice.

For Wuthnow a “spir i tual i ty of dwel l ing” or “habi tat ion” consists in

seeking to exper ience the sacred in special p laces, such as churches

or temples. As I have ment ioned, Mart ínez Celaya views his studio as

a sacred place that sanct i f ies or blesses his hard work; i t ref lects the

ar t is t ’s interest in sacred places, or contexts, where act ions, objects,

and images ach ieve t ranscendent mean ing and sp i r i tua l s ign i f i cance.

The most p regnant symbo l o f such dwe l l ings in the

paint ings is the forest , a “place” that evokes communion or connect ion

w i th the mean ing tha t l i es beneath the sur face o f appearances .

Rain, October, Snowfal l , and Birch (Wood-Mi lk) al l refer to special p laces—

cut o f f f rom the mundane wor ld—where the sacred can

be exper ienced.

12

13

FIGURE 11. DETAIL OF BLACK PAINTING IN OCTOBER CYCLE.

FIGURE 12 . ENRIQUE MARTÍNEZ CELAYA, THE LAST FLOWER(FROM THE SERIES BERLIN) , 1998 .SILVER GELATIN PRINT. 16 x 16 IN .COLLECTION OF ENRIQUE MARTÍNEZ CELAYA AND ALEXANDRA WILLIAMS, LOS ANGELES

The “spir i tual i ty of seeking” or “negot iat ion” consists of the personal—

even lonely—search for spir i tual presence. Mart ínez Celaya’s decis ion to

avoid using inst i tut ional re l ig ions to def ine his spir i tual l i fe, and his ear ly

interest in Zen (a pr ivat ized form of spir i tual i ty that has even interested such

myst ica l Chr is t ians as Thomas Merton) , reaff i rm th is concern to v iew

spir i tual i ty as not s imply resident in a set of doctr inal bel iefs or even a

sacred local i ty, but as a cont inual process toward discovery. But , for

Mart ínez Celaya, and in contrast to much Zen and Buddhist thought, sel f -

d iscovery or sel f -d issolut ion is not an ul t imate concern. His rat ional , real ist

v iew of the wor ld does not al low him to remain content wi th the bel ief that

meaning is merely personal . Personal meaning must, in some way, resul t

in a relat ionship wi th the wor ld ’s t ruth. Paint ings such as The Helper and

Boatboy , w i th the i r sa i l ing imagery, cas t the adventure o f the quest

or d iscovery of meaning in one’s l i fe as a voyage. His use of a sharp,

d i rec t l ight as exempl i f ied in Light and Light and F igures (A lmonds)

s ign i f ies a momentary reve la t ion o f t ru th o r perhaps even a d iv ine

“ in-breaking” that i l lumines, ever so br ief ly, the wor ld: one sees in a l ightning

str ike—if only br ief ly—the world as i t real ly is and not as the distorted

shadows tha t re f lec t o f f the wa l l s o f our darkened ear th ly

caves ( f ig. 13).

The th i rd and f ina l ca tegory i s the “p rac t i ce o f sp i r i tua l i t y, ”

which Wuthnow views as a spir i tual i ty rooted not s imply in sacred places

or in the lonely search for bel iefs, but in actual pract ice, that is , in

act ing in such a way as to al low bel iefs to affect and shape behavior,

developing pract ices that actual ly shape and discipl ine one’s own l i fe.

This concept is the source of Mart ínez Celaya’s concern for ar t as an

e th ica l ac t i v i t y ; i t i s man i fes t th rough those pa in t ings tha t show

figures acting or performing simple gestures that imbue mundane, ordinary

activities with sacredness (Seated Figure, Gabriela I, and Logbook).

For Mart ínez Celaya art—symbol ized most c lear ly in the medium of

paint ing—embodies al l three manifestat ions of contemporary spir i tual i ty.

The studio (and the gal lery space) offers the dwel l ing for an exper ience

of the sacred; the process of making art , the very process art iculated

and pointed to through the art ist ’s means of composing art , suggests

seeking, embarking on the journey or the “walk” of l i fe; and ul t imately,

the very act of ar t -making, the discipl ine required to make art , is found in

the solemn act ions of h is f igures.

Echoing a common concern among western philosophers about the specter of

Being and Nothingness, Liebniz asks, “[W]hy is there not nothing?”

Mart ínez Celaya answers th is quest ion in h is very pract ice as an ar t is t . The

October Cyc le offers aesthet ic test imony to creat ion, to the sacred, to the

t ranscendent , and to the immanent . Th is seems to be suff ic ient ev idence

for Mar t ínez Celaya that the wor ld has meaning and coherence wi th which

he must develop a personal re la t ionship. The immanent , the immediate,

and the banal have s ign i f icance, then, on ly because of the ex is tence of

t ranscendent meaning. Wi thout t ranscendence, the banal remains brute

ex is tence. For Mar t ínez Celaya ar t , par t icu lar ly pa in t ing, is Euchar is t ic . I t

is the t ransubstant ia t ion of mat ter—smel ly o i ls and s t icky tar—into a vessel

f o r sp i r i t ua l p resence . These pa in t i ngs don ’ t mere l y “ rep resen t ” o r

“memor ia l ize” sp i r i tua l presence, or “s ign i fy” t ranscendence; they s imply

are presence and t ranscendence. Ar t is t ic pract ice, then, for Mar t ínez

Celaya, is inherent ly sp i r i tua l , and, perhaps, a wager on the very ex is tence

of God. The sp i r i tua l , the t ranscendent , and the sacred are rea l to Mar t ínez

Celaya. And th is is not s imply o f impor tance to h im as an ar t is t , but as a

human being. These pa in t ings are the too ls through which he explores and

discovers the cosmic order and develops a personal re la t ionship wi th i t .

FIGURE 13. DETAIL OF LIGHT AND FIGURE (ALMONDS) (SEE P. 75)

C o n c l u s i o n

George Steiner begins his study of the “real presence” of the t ranscendent

by imagining an ant i -Platonic Republ ic in which there is no “secondary”

discourse, commentary, or cr i t ic ism, only pr imary aesthet ic product ion.

Likewise, the October Cycle is Mart ínez Celaya’s endeavor to explore

meaning—aesthet ic , mora l , e th ica l , and sp i r i tua l—through the mater ia l

part icular i ty and speci f ic i ty of paint ing. In contrast ing art to phi losophy,

Kuspi t argues that phi losophy ignores art ’s “pract ice,” that i t “exaggerates

the a r twork in to an ep is temolog ica l p rob lem, in to the p rob lem o f

epistemology i tsel f . ” I t thus ignores the “concreteness that is the source

of the artwork’s intense part icular i ty.” Thus art is not u l t imately about

ideas , i t i s a “kno t o f consc iousness , an in t rans igen t tex tu re no t

easi ly shaped to in te l lectual order. ” Ar t is to be exper ienced, and

the October Cycle offers a stunning celebrat ion of s i lence, the s i lence of

an aesthet ic exper ience that cannot be separated from the exper ience

of t ranscendence. In the last analysis, the October Cycle is not about

ideas , ph i losophy, o r sys tems: i t i s an aes the t i c demonst ra t ion o f

t ranscendent presence, a presence that saturates our language and act ions,

even though we of ten bui ld elaborate intel lectual edi f ices in a systemat ic

at tempt to forget or deny i t . Naming that presence is not Mart ínez Celaya’s

task. L iv ing in i ts l ight is h is aesthet ic and ethical project .

Presentness is indeed grace.

14

N o t e s1. See George Steiner, Real Presences (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989).

2. See Enrique Martínez Celaya, 1992–2000 , edited by James Jensen (Honolulu: The

Contemporary Museum; Koln: Wienand Verlag, 2001).

3. Donald Kuspit, The Rebirth of Painting in the Late Twentieth Century (Cambridge

University Press, 2000), 4.

4. Enrique Martínez Celaya, Guide (2002), 2 vols. (Los Angeles: Whale and Star, 2002).

Citations to the book wil l be referenced in the text.

5. See Edward W. Said, “Intellectual Exile: Expatriates and Marginals” (1993), in The

Edward Said Reader, edited by M. Bayoumi and A. Rubin (New York: Vintage Books,

2000).

6. Paul Crowther, Art and Embodiment (London: Oxford University Press, 1993), 9–10.

7. Conversation with artist, June 5, 2002.

8. See Leah Ollman, “Primal Emotions Evoked in Black,” Los Angeles Times , November

1, 2002, E-27; Nancy Kay Turner, “Enrique Martínez Celaya,” Art Scene (November

2002): 24, 25. For a complete bibliography, see Enrique Martínez Celaya, 1992–2000 ,

249–63. See also Leah Ollman, “In a Silent Season,” Art in America 91, no. 5 (May

2003): 132–37.

9. See Ake Fant, “The Case of the Artist Hilma Af Klint,” in The Spiritual in Art: Abstract

Painting 1890–1985 , edited by Maurice Tuchman (Los Angeles: Los Angeles County

Museum of Art; New York: Abbevil le Press, 1986), 155–63.

10. Donald B. Kuspit, “Concerning the Spiritual in Contemporary Art,” in Tuchman, The

Spiritual in Art , 313–25.

11. Enrique Martínez Celaya, Berlin (Los Angeles: Stephen Cohen Gallery and Will iam

Griff in Edit ions, 1998).

12. Donald B. Kuspit, The Rebirth of Painting in the Late Twentieth Century (Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press, 2000).

13. Robert Wuthnow, After Heaven: Spirituality in America since the 1950s (Los Angeles:

University of California Press, 2001).

14. Donald Kuspit, “Philosophy and Art: Elective Affinit ies in an Arranged Marriage,” in

Redeeming Art: Crit ical Reveries (New York: Allworth Press, 2000), 11–14.