Born in Buenos Aires in 1972.
He studied at the Prilidiano Pueyrredón National School of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires.
In 1998, he received the Encouragement Award at the Sacred Art Biennial. In 1999, he obtained three major distinctions: the Pío Collivadino Award for Young Artist at the National Salon of Visual Arts; an Honorable Mention at the Chandon Biennial; and First Prize at the Fundación Mecenas Painting Salon, which granted him a scholarship to travel to Italy, where he lived for a period while visiting exhibitions and museums.
From that point on, he traveled regularly to Italy, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, the Netherlands, and the United States to visit exhibitions by the artists he considers his masters, including Rembrandt, Giacometti, Lucian Freud, Bacon, Vermeer, and Chillida, among others. He carried out an in-depth study of their work, making this process a central axis of his artistic training.
In the following years, he held solo exhibitions in Buenos Aires, New York, Miami, and London. He also participated in international art fairs in Madrid, Toronto, Seoul, Zurich, Los Angeles, Houston, London, New York, Caracas, Miami, Chicago, New Delhi, and Bogotá.
He lives and works in Buenos Aires.
author
Luciana Trost
,
Ale Mottesi
Date
February 3, 2026
Art
Legacy
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WHAT DOES ART MEAN TO YOU?
Martín La Rosa
Art is the greatest expression of truth that human beings can create.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR WORK?
M.L.R.
My work ranges from portraiture to nature, including landscape, capturing what I feel and what happens to me when I look at the great works of history, with certain conceptual accents that help me understand why I do what I do. It is the discovery of an image or a landscape, the sensation of a light, that motivates me to work on it.
When did you first connect with art?
M.L.R.
I believe in art as a way of understanding life and why we are here. There are moments, generally difficult ones, that lead us toward art. There is a way of looking that finds answers only in art, and then one gradually discovers certain situations that lead us to art in everyday life.
What motivates you to create your works and to be creative?
M.L.R.
I believe that without art nothing would make much sense; it is the only thing that lifts us a little off the ground. There is a book I read some time ago about the Spanish painter Miquel Barceló whose title is Porque la vida no basta (Because Life Is Not Enough), a wonderful title, and I think that is why I paint. When I met Guillermo Roux, a great master, he told me, “You are lost… you cannot stop painting,” and over time I understood.
"Art is the greatest expression of truth that human beings can create."
WHAT TECHNIQUES DO YOU USE?
M.L.R.
My work is generally in oil, on paper or canvas, and many pieces are intervened, burned, worked with earth and water, and with the passage of time, all resources that I incorporated in order to find some answers. I also like drawing very much and work with installations. Any technique is appropriate for reaching the truth.
WHO ARE YOUR ARTISTIC INFLUENCES?
M.L.R.
My artistic references have changed over time, from the great classics, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, to major contemporary artists such as Bacon, Freud, Giacometti, Richter, Rothko, and others. Any artist who has brushed against truth in their work is a reference for me, a mirror in which to look at myself.
"I believe that without art nothing would make much sense; it is the only thing that lifts us a little off the ground. (...)"
HOW DO YOU APPROACH STARTING A NEW WORK OR COLLECTION?
M.L.R.
I do not believe in strategies when beginning a work. That would distance anyone from their truth and therefore from allowing that work to come even minimally close to a search that is related to artistic inquiry.
OUTSIDE OF ART, WHAT HOBBIES OR ACTIVITIES DO YOU ENJOY?
M.L.R.
I also greatly enjoy other arts, books, film, and music. I consider myself a devoted museum visitor, discovering artists and rediscovering others; for example, I recently fell in love with Bosch at the Prado Museum. I also love sports.
Any plans for this year? Are you currently working on any projects?
M.L.R.
At the moment I am working on the painting of a private chapel in the province of Buenos Aires, which greatly interests me. I am also working with several curators on upcoming exhibitions and on a project for the publication of a book focused mainly on the last fifteen years of my work.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO PURSUE ART OR IS JUST BEGINNING THEIR JOURNEY?
M.L.R.
That they find their truth, that they be honest with themselves, that they find their references, those that help them move forward, and that they observe the art world closely and pay close attention to whom they entrust their work.
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