An exceptional, energetic, and dynamic example of the best of Martinez’s work, You Come Up Short exemplifies the artist’s constant and playful dialogue between the realms of drawing and painting; between high art and low art, incorporating aspects from his graffiti days – spray paint and elements of the everyday- onto his highly worked, brightly coloured, oil paint canvas. The unfiltered frenetic mark making is contrasted with carefully thought out and implemented composition and use of colour and paint, influenced by popular urban culture, Abstract Expressionism and Surrealism. Constructed with oil impasto, layers of silkscreen inks, enamel, thumbtack, palette paper, metal and spray paint, the work oscillates between figuration and abstraction. “I’m kind of dancing around this thing, doing it as quick as possible, and just letting the marks fall where they fall” (Eddie Martinez, quoted in conversation with Barry McGee, Interview Magazine, September 2014).