On October of 2020 John Martin, died peacefully in his beloved home in Murphys, California. John was an actor, artist, and humorist, and was a co-founder with Marshall Weber of Martin/Weber Gallery (1982) and Artists Television Access (1983) in San Francisco, California, as well as proprietor of Martin Studio and Fine Art Reproductions in Murphys, California (2000). John’s contributions to California culture were considerable and his character and razor sharp sense of humor endeared him to many while patently offending others.
In October of 2021 Clarence Robbs, well know as Cuba, died in San Francisco General Hospital with friends in attendance. Cuba was one of the most prolific, respected and influential graffiti writers in the Bay Area painting hundreds of murals and teaching and otherwise supporting the work of dozens of younger writers over the years. Cuba was also an incredibly accomplished artists’ book maker whose graffiti books are in collections around the world, including the Library of Congress, the National Library of Germany, the National Library of Luxembourg, The New York Public Library, and University of California, Berkeley.
Cuba’s first San Francisco mural was done in the basement of ATA in 1998, and he frequently attended and sometimes participated in ATA events. Booklyn, a not-for-profit artists’ run publisher and distributor of artists’ books and political ephemera from Brooklyn, NYC (co-founded by Weber in 1999) distributed Cuba’s illuminated graffiti manuscripts, including various collaborations with Weber and S.F. Mission artists Dana Smith and Scott Williams. Numerous artworks of Weber’s were also printed at Martin Studio.
So it seems fitting that the Mission, ATA and Booklyn communities come together and celebrate the incandescent creativity of these two exceptional artists and human beings. The event is open to the public and work by both John Martin and Cuba will be shown, including a very special exhibition of the monumental artists’ book “Slaughter of the Trees” by Cuba and Weber (courtesy of the San Francisco Letterform Archive) and a screening of Martin’s grim yet hilarious video “Prison DJ”. A second line will be performed by local urban/folk/noise band National Disgrace, long associated with ATA.
Please join us and share your stories of John and Cuba at ATA in the crucible of Es Ef alternative art and media culture. Bring food and drink and what you will. Many thanks to the ATA staff for making this event possible.
