Posters, Post-Punk

You may not know Mike Martin, but if you’ve been to a concert in Columbus in the last 15 years, you already know what it’s like to be in his head.

His path as an artist, under the moniker Engine House 13, is akin to many of the musicians he’s toured with and befriended over the years, from scribbling band logos in his high school notebook, to “borrowing” existing flyers to learn from and adapt, to mastering the art of screen-printing. Today, his work graces the halls of The Bluestone, Promowest, King Avenue 5, and many others venues—Martin unofficially becoming the chief brandsmith of live music in the city over the last decade and a half. He has also become a go-to artist for many bands and venues around the world.

Heavily influenced by rock-n-roll and tattoo and culture, his parade of hot rods, pin-ups, devils, and skulls have evolved from the dot-matrix DIY of the underground to fine art work that you’d be more likely to see hanging in Nashville’s famed Hatch Show Print halls.

This month, (614) devotes its Gallery Space section to Martin, hoping to give our pages a little bit of the cool that emanates from the backrooms of Columbus’s most prominent stages, with the artist himself offering up a bit of commentary on each.

For more, see enginehouse13.com.

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