Driving through the streets of Oakland or San Francisco, you may come across ginormous painted calla lilies bursting along the side of a building in a gradient of greens. Lines of gold tracing birds and leaves might catch your eye through an office window. These blossoming worlds are the works of Jet Martinez, a Mexican American painter based in the East Bay.
“It’s in the making of things,” says Jet Martinez, who has been an influential figure in the San Francisco Bay Area public arts scene for nearly three decades. After studying Spanish literature, he pursued a formal arts education at the San Francisco Art Institute in 1997, where he earned a BFA in painting and printmaking. Since then, he has left his mark on walls around the world in places like Java, Oaxaca, and Zurich, as well as cities in the United States, such as Denver, Miami, and New Orleans. “Painting is a way of processing. It helps me process my life, whether an argument or a problem. It’s how I process my sense of self.”
Many of Jet’s murals feature a variety of flora and fauna, deriving his composition and bold color choice from traditional Mexican folk art. Born in Tuxpan, Veracruz, Mexico, and raised in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Jet is inspired by his native culture’s roots in pottery, weaving, and embroidery. He creates rhythmic patterns in his public artwork, allowing him to bridge the gap between his life in Mexico and his teen years in the United States. “I grew up with graffiti, White Walls, and Juxtapoz, but I also come from the melting pot that is Mexico. I developed my mural style so I could just step up to a wall and go. Before, I would try to make an intricate painting, and it just took too long.”
“When you expose your vulnerabilities, it allows others to do the same. It’s a much more nutritious conversation.” -Jet Martinez
Jet is best known for his murals, but his artistic practice extends beyond public art. He’s applied his designs to prints, installations, and streetwear, allowing his work to reach different audiences. Over the years, Jet has worked with several big-name companies and brands. A quick Google search will show large walls covered in brightly colored roses and birds surrounding public parks and black and white peonies printed on sweatshirts. “A lot of times, people ask me to do some iteration of something I’ve already done. And I’ve had this major hang-up with like, qué dirán?” He adds, “Creating art is a fast lane to someone else with mutual understanding. My work gives me access to other people, and it allows others to access what I want them to have.”
When working on commissioned art, an artist often must modify their artistic vision in order to make a client’s dream come true. Whether considering branding or the color palette of office furniture, Jet finds himself constantly refining his florals into another’s aesthetic. “The murals are jobs. In 2022, I had a lot of work, a lot of commissions, but I didn’t have time to do my art—to think, to dream, to experiment.” After that realization, Jet rented his own studio away from home, having shared a space with his wife and fellow artist, Kelly Ording. “I began to carve out more space and time. Now, three years later, I feel back in touch with being an artist.”
Between big mural projects, Jet problem-solves personal work in his studio day and night. Bordering the Oakland Estuary, its big open windows, exposed brick wall, and mini fridge make up an artist’s ideal studio. Years of work sitting kitty-corner to stacks of milk crates holding a seemingly endless supply of aerosol cans. The space is complete with a few roof leaks, a thriving monstera plant, and a desk for the occasional email. Jet sits on his futon, enjoying a pastry from a local bakery and drinking licorice tea to get in a creative mindset. “Making art in private is essential to our society. The creation of a project is the creation of a problem to work on or solve. I think that’s a lot of what artists do. We make problems for ourselves. El hacer por el hecho de hacer.”
Concentrated time in his studio has allowed Jet the space and time to question his process and what his work represents. “I feel like I let my family down when I’m not creating. My practice is ingrained in my well-being, and I’m a much more balanced person when I’m making art…when I’m making something that wasn’t there before.” While Jet’s body of work is layered with personal narrative, it may not be apparent at first glance. His recent practice has allowed him to traverse his mixed-race background, combining the cultures and communities in which he grew up. The English and German heritage he inherited from his mother doesn’t tend to show up in his work as overtly as his time living under the Mexican sun. “Often, I feel just fine with who I am, but I sometimes question whether I have access to certain Mexican traditions.” Jet immigrated to the States at the age of 14. “Not knowing whether I have permission to access this lineage of work is a real question that is always in my head. At the same time, I also feel like my intention is to create something that feels like it belongs here, specifically in the Bay Area.”
Jet’s work has been shown in commercial galleries, both nationally and internationally. A combination of solo exhibitions and group shows have featured his distinctive linework and ornate details, the pieces finding homes in the hands of collectors. In 2024, his solo exhibition A Language of Flowers was on display at Heron Arts in San Francisco. His next solo show will open on June 6, 2025, in Downtown San Jose at MACLA (Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana).
The exhibition will feature work five years in the making, beginning with an experimental concept developed during the COVID-19 pandemic. “At the time, I was making a lot of really quiet, muted work just because everything felt so murky. I didn’t feel like doing bright, exuberant stuff.” As the pandemic waned, Jet found himself needing more light in his work. He returned to his colors and penchant for strong, decorative design. “Sometimes, art feels so persistent. Especially in these times—in times of war, in times of great conflict—to make something beautiful feels like an act of resistance.” The series of twenty original works examines the passage of time and the motifs that make Jet’s work uniquely his own while interrogating the need to start over and try again.
“This new process has been a total deep dive into my fear of repeating myself. In that process of repeating myself, I’m seeing that none of this is the same. When you expose your vulnerabilities, it allows others to do the same. It’s a much more nutritious conversation.”
Instagram: jetmar1art
Join Jet for the opening of his solo exhibition, “Arbolito” at MACLA/Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana on the first Friday of June 2025, 06/06/25. This exhibition presents new work, drawing inspiration from the rich traditions of his native culture, where ornate patterns and abstract forms are combined to explore the passage of time.
“Arbolito” is on view at MACLA June 06, 2025 – August 10, 2025
SPANISH VERSION
