Over the last 20 years I’ve been working -and learning every day a bit more- on how to make images better each time; with every new project a new challenge opens and yields an improvement.
Martín Sichetti founds Marsdepartment Studio – high-end retouching in 2008. He gives each project the stamp and dedication of the artisan, of the handmade things from the very beginning. Not just because, but for the best result’s sake. “Handmade retouching” consists on retouching skin pore by pore and hair by hair, without filters or magic. During this process images get manipulated carefully following a specific criterion, resulting in highly complex compositions. Martin starts retouching in 1998, when the tools were just a few and most of the work was analogical: positive and negative films were scanned and transparencies were composed. Later, new digital tools appeared to improve the work. Nowadays, Marsdepartment is the place to create, mix, cut and compose in order to get perfection.
Full Bio
Pursuant to exhaustive research driven by love and knowledge of film by classic authors like Alfred Hitchcock, John Huston, Fritz Lang, and Billy Wilder, but also by lesser-known figures like Ida Lupino, Martín Sichetti (b. 1973, Buenos Aires) selects stills that he later reworks in drawings, videos and performances triggered by film narrative devices.
As a self-taught artist, his relationship with drawing goes back to childhood; a period in which he also reaffirms his passion for films. His passion for films is also reflected on Darling Pet Monkey (2011), a video he produced based on a scene from Billy Wilder’s classic film noir, Sunset Boulevard (1950).
His first performances were under the spell of Marilyn Monroe. Simultaneously in 2008, he founded marsdepartment, a studio focused on hi-end retouching he has been directing ever since. As a young teenager, he learned the technique of fashion sketching and attended to costume design workshops at the Teatro Colón and the Teatro San Martín. He has also designed costumes for plays and contemporary dance shows.
He attended workshops by Norma Cirigliano; Peter Richter; Ezequiel García; Fabiana Barreda; Valeria Iglesias; Catalina Schliebener; Gilda Picabea; Silvia Gurfein; María Onetto; Inés Estévez; among others.
In 2013, his piece The Key was selected to illustrate the cover of the book of poems inspired by cinema: Rancho Nostalgia, by James Cihlar, Dream Horse Press.
Recent solo show include: Personæ, Hache galería, Buenos Aires (2023); Film Fatale, Hache galería, Buenos Aires (2019); Microfilms, Hache galería, Buenos Aires (2016); Suspensa, Fundación Esteban Lisa, Buenos Aires (2014); Darling Pet Monkey. Espacio Cabina, Buenos Aires (2013).
Works by the artist were included in numerous group exhibitions: Universo último proceso, Hache galería, Buenos Aires (2022); Bienalsur: Conciencia medioambiental, capítulo 3: Paraísos artificiales, Museo Evita Palacio Ferreyra, Córdoba (2021); Inventar a la intemperie. Desobediencias sexuales e imaginación política en el arte contemporáneo, Parque de la Memoria, Buenos Aires (2021); Premio Fundación Andreani 2020, Buenos Aires (2021); Fondo Nacional De Las Artes 2020, Casa Nacional Del Bicentenario, Buenos Aires (2020); Lo que queda, Hache galería, Buenos Aires (2020); Premio Klemm 2019, Fundación F.J Klemm, Buenos Aires (2019); En El Borde(R), MACLA – Museo de Arte Contemporánea de la Plata (2019); 72º Salón Nacional de Rosario 2018, Museo Castagnino+Macro, Rosario, Santa Fe; 107 º Salón Nacional de Artes Visuales 2018, Casa Nacional del Bicentenario, Buenos Aires (2018); Premio Klemm 2017. Fundación F.J. Klemm, Buenos Aires, (2017); 94º Salón de Mayo 2017, Museo de Bellas Artes Rosa Galisteo de Rodríguez, Santa Fe (2017); Premio Itaú 2017, Palais de Glace, Buenos Aires (2017); Premio Klemm 2016. Fundación F.J. Klemm. Buenos Aires (2016); En Papel, Del Infinito Galería, Buenos Aires (2016); Alphaville, BA Photo, Buenos Aires (2016); Lo firme en el centro encuentra correspondencia, Hache galería, Buenos Aires (2017); Has llorado, en silencio, Hache galería, Buenos Aires (2016); Vértigo, el cine desde las artes visuales, Praxis, Buenos Aires (2015); Páramo, Hache galería- GAS, Buenos Aires (2014); The Eclectic Tomorrow. The Clubhouse, Buenos Aires, Argentina (2013); Faber-Castell 250º aniversario. Buenos Aires, Argentina (2011); among others.
In 2018, he was awarded a special mention in the discipline of Drawing at the 107th edition of the Salón Nacional de Artes Visuales, Casa Nacional del Bicentenario in Buenos Aires.
In 2019, Martín Sichetti was awarded the second acquisition prize in the XXIII Premio a las artes visuales Federico Jorge Klemm, held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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