José Jun Martínez Puerto Rican, b. 1992
José Jun Martínez is a London-based visual artist from Puerto Rico. His practice spans a decade of immersive contemplation in natural environments, translating his perceptions and memories into a language of painting materiality.
Martínez’s paintings transform Puerto Rico’s tropical landscapes into immersive, psychologically charged environments. Rooted in direct encounters with the land, his work explores the entanglement of ecology, colonial history, and perception. Through saturated colour and dense, enveloping compositions, Martínez reimagines landscape as a site of both sensory experience and political memory. Now based in London, his practice draws on over a decade of deep engagement with natural environments, translating lived experience into a distinct painterly language. While untethered from any single point, his works remain grounded in a powerful sense of emotion and liberation.
Martínez holds a BA in Fine Arts from the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico (2015) and an MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art in London, UK where he was awarded the Valerie Beston Artists’ Trust Prize (2024). His recent solo exhibitions include Esto También Permanece (Fundación Ángel Ramos, San Juan, 2022) and El abrazo de las fieras (Walter Otero Contemporary Art, San Juan, 2022) and upcoming shows in Galería Leyendecker, Tenerife; Matt Carey-Williams, London; and Ordovas, London.