Michael Craig- Martin

Michael Craig-Martin

Michael Craig-Martin was born in Dublin in 1941 and educated in the United States, studying fine art at Yale University. He returned to Europe in the mid-1960s, becoming one of the key figures in the first generation of British conceptual artists. He was a professor at Goldsmith's College from 1974-1988 and 1994-2000, where he remained a powerful influence on the upcoming British artists.

 His early work made reference to the American artists he most appreciated, such as Donald Judd, Jasper Johns and Robert Morris. Although he was particularly affected by Minimalism and used ordinary household materials in his sculptures. In the early 1970s, he exhibited his now important piece An Oak Tree, consisting of a glass of water standing on a shelf attached to the gallery wall. In the accompanying text, he asked himself questions to assert that the glass was in fact an oak tree. Craig-Martin continued working in various forms, always maintaining an elegant restraint and conceptual clarity. During the 1990s the focus of his work shifted decisively to painting, with the same range of boldly outlined motifs and luridly vivid colour schemes in unexpected combinations applied both to works on canvas, and to increasingly complex installations of wall paintings

 Michael Craig martins work makes me feel happy as he uses bright vibrant colours, it’s the kind of art work that you look at and will make you smile. The most fascinating thing about this is that the colours used complement each other a great deal and don’t clash.  After doing a collage and then tracing over I was able to achieve a similar style used by this artist in his work, I also used bright colours and tried not to make them contrast. Studying his work I would like to be able to learn how to choose colours I use carefully to ensure one colour does not dominate the whole painting and be able to balance it properly.

Michael Craig martin quotes  “In the late 70's I started to make drawings of the ordinary objects I had been using in my work. Initially I wanted them to be ready-made drawings of the kind of common objects I had always used in my work. I was surprised to discover I couldn't find the simple, neutral drawings I had assumed existed, so I started to make them myself. I deliberately avoided any personal or expressive character in them (un-inflected line, drawing with tape, etc) - I wanted them to be as impersonal and 'styleless' as possible. Ironically, over the years the character of my drawings has gradually come to be seen as my 'style'.”