PETER MARÍN was born and raised in Mexico City. He has lived in San Francisco, Oakland, Madrid, New York City, and Raleigh. He received a BA from UC Berkeley and an MFA from Hunter College. Marin has been painting for 30 years, and exhibits both nationally and internationally. His work is part of public and private collections and foundations including Hunter College, United Way, Boys and Girls Club, The City of Raleigh and SAS. Marín received the Latino Diamante Award 2019 for Arts and Culture, given by Diamante, Inc, North Carolina’s first Latino arts organization. Marín is currently represented by Charlotte Russell Contemporary.
Marín’s abstract painting references architecture, landscape, the handmade, sacred geometry, identity and uses the languages of color and structure. As a Latino artist, his intention is to further the discussion on abstraction, moving it from formalist, reductivist proposals to a more personal, layered and rich vision rendering his personal sensibility.
Marín uses his experiences with Mexican craft art to maintain, transmit and celebrate his traditions. He produces varying scale ofrendas using and creating Mexican artesanias, in particular those surrounding Día de Muertos, which includes papel picado, clay, papel mâché, retablos, dioramas and sugar skulls. He recently created and installed a colossal ofrenda for the North Carolina Museum of Art’s exhibition, Frida, Diego and the Mexican Modernists, which drew more than 100,000 people and had more than 31,000 visitors interacting with his ofrenda work.
Marín teaches art and has 23 years of experience with various populations, including undergraduate, graduate, youth at risk, victims of violence, teens and active adults. He currently teaches as an adjunct assistant professor with Wake Tech Community College and Living Arts College. As a teaching artist, Marín works with The City of Raleigh through Pullen Arts Center and Sertoma Arts Center, Cary Arts Center, Cary Academy, Diamante Cultural Arts Center and the North Carolina Museum of Art. Additionally, he offers arts consultation and education services to private and non-profit sectors and mentors a community of 35 painters.
Marin shapes his artistic decisions with his personal sensibilities stemming from his combined painting practice and his experience as an arts educator. These experiences have shaped his personal abstract language and defined his traditional crafts practice, motivating further interest in painting and reinforcing his traditions with Mexican craft.
