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'{{Short description|Irish contemporary conceptual artist and painter}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2013}} {{EngvarB|date=October 2013}} {{Infobox artist | name = Sir Michael Craig-Martin | image = An Oak Tree (conceptual art installation).jpg | caption = ''[[An Oak Tree]]'' by Michael Craig-Martin | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1941|8|28|df=yes}} | birth_place = [[Dublin]], Ireland | death_date = | death_place = | nationality = {{hlist | Ireland | UK<!-- holds dual citizenship hence substantive knighthood-->}} | field = {{hlist | Painting | drawing | [[conceptual artist]]}} | training = [[Yale University]] | movement = [[Conceptualism]] | works = ''[[An Oak Tree]]'' | website = {{official URL}} }} '''Sir Michael Craig-Martin''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|CBE|RA}} (born 28 August 1969) is an Irish-born [[contemporary art|contemporary]] [[conceptual art]]ist and painter.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/may/04/michael-craig-martin|title= Interview: Michael Craig-Martin: Up close and impersonal |newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|publisher=Guardian News & Media|date=4 May 2011}}</ref><ref name=grove>{{cite web|url=https://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T020103?goto=Craig-Martin&_start=1&type=biography&pos=19|title=Craig-Martin, Michael|publisher=Oxford University Press|work=Grove Art Online|access-date=5 December 2015|author=Livingstone, Marco}}</ref> He is known for fostering and adopting the [[Young British Artists]], many of whom he taught, and for his [[conceptual art]]work, ''[[An Oak Tree]]''. He is Emeritus Professor of Fine Art at [[Goldsmiths, University of London|Goldsmiths]].<ref>[http://www.gold.ac.uk/art/staff Goldsmiths College staff list]; retrieved 25 January 2011.</ref> His memoir and advice for the aspiring artist, ''On Being An Artist'', was published by London-based publisher Art / Books in April 2015.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://www.artbookspublishing.co.uk/on-being-an-artist/ |title=On Being An Artist |first1= Michael |last1=Craig-Martin | date=18 January 2015 |isbn=978-1-908970-18-3}}</ref> ==Early life and career== Michael Craig-Martin was born in [[Dublin]], but spent most of his childhood in [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref>{{cite magazine | url=http://www.studiointernational.com/index.php/michael-craig-martin | title=Michael Craig-Martin | magazine=Studio International | date=2014 |first=Janet |last= McKenzie}}</ref><ref name=Telegraph /> For eight years, he attended a Roman Catholic school he was a dickhead who had fights with many people and he suked cok,which was run by nuns, followed by the English Benedictine Priory School (now [[St. Anselm's Abbey School]]), where pupils were encouraged to look at religious imagery in illuminated glass panels and stained-glass windows.{{sfn|Cork|2006|p=17}} He gained an interest in art through one of the priests, who was an artist, and was also strongly impressed by a display in the [[Phillips Collection]] of work by [[Mark Rothko]].{{sfn|Cork|2006|p=17}} Craig-Martin studied in Lycée Français in [[Bogotá, Colombia]], where his father had employment for a while. Drawing classes in the Lycée by an artist, Antonio Roda, gave him a wider perspective on art.{{sfn|Cork|2006|p=17}} His parents had no inclinations towards art, although they did have on display in their home [[Picasso]]'s ''Greedy Child''.{{sfn|Cork|2006|p=18}}<ref>{{cite web| url=http://dome.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.3/22447/105135_sv.jpg?sequence=2 | title = Craigh-Martin profile |url-access=subscription | publisher= [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] | access-date= 14 June 2016}}</ref>{{Verify source|reason= page inaccessible|date=August 2019}} Back in Washington, he attended drawing classes given there by artists, then in 1959 attended [[Fordham University]] in New York for English Literature and History, while also starting to paint.{{sfn|Cork|2006|p=18}} In mid-1961 Craig-Martin studied art at the [[Académie de la Grande Chaumière]] in Paris,{{sfn|Cork|2006|p=}} and in the autumn he began a painting course at [[Yale University]], where the teaching was strongly influenced by the multi-disciplinary experimentation and minimalist theories on colour and form of [[Josef Albers]], a former head of department. Craig-Martin later said,{{citation needed|date=August 2019}} ''"Everything I know about colour comes from that course"''. Tutors on the course included artists [[Alex Katz]] and [[Al Held]].{{sfn|Cork|2006|p=18}} ==Work== [[File: Royal academy summer exhibition varnishing day 2015 KM with MCM.jpg|right|thumb|Michael Craig-Martin (left), and Keith Milow at the "varnishing day") R.A. summer exhibition 2015]] Craig-Martin has lived and worked in London since 1966.<ref name="Wholesome Enough for Children">{{cite news|first1 = Roberta |last1=Smith |author-link = Roberta Smith| date=15 March 1991 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/15/arts/review-art-wholesome-enough-for-children.html | title= Wholesome Enough for Children | newspaper = [[New York Times]] | access-date = 14 June 2016}}</ref> From his early box-like constructions of the late 1960s he moved increasingly to the use of ordinary household objects. In the late 1970s he began to make line drawings of ordinary objects, creating over the years an ever-expanding vocabulary of images which form the foundation of his work to this day. During the 1990s the focus of his work shifted decisively to painting, with the same range of boldly outlined motifs and vivid color schemes applied both to works on canvas, and to increasingly complex installations of wall paintings.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.gagosian.com/artists/michael-craig-martin | title = Michael Craig-Martin profile | website = Gagosian.com | access-date= 14 June 2016}}</ref> ===''An Oak Tree''=== {{Main|An Oak Tree}} In 1973, he exhibited the seminal piece ''[[An Oak Tree]]''.<ref name=manchester>{{cite web |author = Eliza Manchester | url= http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?cgroupid=-1&workid=27072&searchid=false&roomid=false&tabview=text&texttype=10 | title = An Oak Tree 1973: Short text | publisher = [[Tate]] | date= December 2002 | access-date= 8 November 2008}}</ref> The work consists of a glass of water standing on a shelf attached to the gallery wall next to which is a text using an argument to explain why it is in fact an [[oak tree]]. Nevertheless, on one occasion when it was barred by Australian Customs officials from entering the country as vegetation, he was forced to explain it was really a glass of water.<ref name=sherwin>{{cite web| author = Brian Sherwin| author-link = Brian Sherwin| url = http://www.myartspace.com/blog/archive/2007_08_01_blogmyartspace_archive.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071112111142/http://www.myartspace.com/blog/archive/2007_08_01_blogmyartspace_archive.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 12 November 2007 | title=Art Space Talk: Michael Craig-Martin | website= myartspace.com | date= 16 August 2007 | access-date = 31 October 2008}}<!-- NOTE TO EDITORS This is part of a site with editorial oversight, not a solo blog--></ref> The work was bought by the [[National Gallery of Australia]] in 1977, and the [[Tate]] gallery has an artist's copy.<ref name=sherwin/> ===Young British Artists=== From 1973, Craig-Martin was a tutor at [[Goldsmiths College]] and,<ref>{{cite web |title=Michael Craig-Martin |url=https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/artists/michael-craig-martin |publisher=[[National Galleries of Scotland]] |access-date=9 August 2022}}</ref> during the 1980s, was a significant influence on the emerging [[YBA]] generation, including [[Damien Hirst]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/damien-hirst-2308/michael-craig-martin-on-educating-damien-hirst|title=Michael Craig-Martin on educating Damien Hirst – TateShots|last=Tate|website=Tate|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-11-06}}</ref> He was also helpful in promoting the ''[[Freeze (exhibition)|Freeze]]'' show to established art-world figures. In 1995 he curated ''Drawing the Line'': a comprehensive touring exhibition on the history of line drawing for the [[Southbank Centre]], London.<ref name="Collection: Michael Craig-Martin">[http://collection.britishcouncil.org/collection/artist/5/18721 Collection: Michael Craig-Martin] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120115034501/http://collection.britishcouncil.org/collection/artist/5/18721 |date=15 January 2012 }} [[British Council]].</ref> Craig-Martin and his influence were described in an article in ''[[the Observer]]'' regarding the mentors of British art, entitled ''Schools of Thought''.<ref>Life: The Observer Magazine – A celebration of 500 years of British Art – 19 March 2000</ref> Craig-Martin has been a trustee of the [[Tate Gallery]] and is a trustee of the [[National Art Collections Fund]]. ===Later work=== [[File:Art Changes, We Change - London Undergound roundel by Michael Craig-Martin at Southwark Station.png|thumb|Craig-Martin's [[London Underground]] roundel design at [[Southwark Station]] in celebration of the new [[Tate Modern]].]] Since 2011, Craig-Martin has been working on powder-coated steel forms that describe everyday objects and appear like line drawings in the air.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://gagosian.com/exhibitions/2019/michael-craig-martin-sculpture/ | title=Michael Craig-Martin: Sculpture, May 31–August 23, 2019 | publisher = [[Gagosian Gallery]] | access-date= 17 August 2019}}</ref> The first series was shown in the gardens of [[Chatsworth House]] in Derbyshire, in 2014, where the sculptures were sunk into the soil of the grounds.<ref>{{cite news | author = Mark Brown | date = 12 March 2014 | url= https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/mar/12/michael-craig-martin-chatsworth-house | title = High heels and pink pitchforks adorn Chatsworth house lawns | newspaper= [[The Guardian]]}}</ref> ==Exhibitions== Craig-Martin had his first one-man exhibition at the Rowan Gallery in London in 1969. Since then he has shown regularly both in the UK and abroad. He represented Britain at the [[São Paulo Art Biennial]] in 1998.<ref name="Collection: Michael Craig-Martin"/> His solo museum exhibitions include “Always Now,” Kunstverein Hannover (1998); IVAM, Valencia (2000); “Living,” Sintra Museum of Modern Art, Portugal (2001); “Signs of Life,” [[Kunsthaus Bregenz]], Austria (2006); and “Less Is Still More,” Museum Haus Esters, Krefeld, Germany (2013).<ref>[http://www.gagosian.com/exhibitions/michael-craig-martin--june-12-2014 Michael Craig-Martin, June 12 - August 16, 2014] [[Gagosian Gallery]], Hong Kong.</ref> He made his American debut in the "Projects" series at the [[Museum of Modern Art]].<ref name="Wholesome Enough for Children"/> [[File:"The fan" mural, Triton Square, Euston - geograph.org.uk - 463062.jpg|thumb|upright|A mural by Craig-Martin]] A retrospective of Craig-Martin's work took place at the [[Whitechapel Gallery]] in London in 1989. In 2006, the [[Irish Museum of Modern Art]] presented "Michael Craig-Martin: Works 1964–2006" which included works from over 40 years of Craig-Martin's career. The exhibition showed around 50 paintings, sculptures, wall drawings, neon works and text pieces by the artist, covering everything from his sculptures to digital works. One of his works called ''On the Table'' (1970) involved four metal buckets suspended on a table, exemplifying the influence of [[Minimalism]] and [[Conceptualism]] on Craig-Martin. ''[[An Oak Tree]]'' (1973), consisting of "an ordinary glass of water on an equally plain shelf, accompanied by a text in which Craig-Martin asserts the supremacy of the artist's intention over the object itself ... is now widely regarded as a turning point in the development of conceptual art".<ref>{{citation|title=Michael Craig-Martin at the Irish Museum of Modern Art|publisher=ARTINFO|date=5 October 2006|url=http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/21219/michael-craig-martin-at-the-irish-museum-of-modern-art|access-date=23 April 2008}}</ref> In 2015, Craig-Martin's exhibition "Transience" at the [[Serpentine Galleries]] brought together works from 1981 to 2015, including representations of once familiar yet obsolete technology; laptops, games consoles, black-and-white televisions and incandescent lightbulbs that highlighted the increasing transience of technological innovation.<ref>{{citation|title=Michael Craig-Martin: Transience at the Serpentine Galleries, London|date=25 November 2015|url=http://www.serpentinegalleries.org/exhibitions-events/michael-craig-martin-transience|access-date=26 February 2016}}</ref> ==Collections== Craig-Martin's work is represented in public collections worldwide, including: * [[Australian National Gallery]], Canberra, Australia<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nga.gov.au/international/catalogue/detail.cfm?IRN=116226|title=International Paintings and Sculpture &#124; An oak tree|website=nga.gov.au}}</ref> * [[Centre Georges Pompidou]], Paris, France<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.centrepompidou.fr/id/cGaK5o/rkqpan/fr|title=Michael Craig-Martin &#124; Centre Pompidou|website=www.centrepompidou.fr}}</ref> * [[Bibliothèque Nationale]], Paris, France<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://data.bnf.fr/fr/12424104/michael_craig-martin/|title=Michael Craig-Martin|website=data.bnf.fr}}</ref> * [[Irish Museum of Modern Art]], Dublin, Ireland<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://imma.ie/collection/|title=Collection|website=IMMA}}</ref> * [[Arts Council of Great Britain]], United Kingdom<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.artscouncilcollection.org.uk/explore/artist/craig-martin-michael|title=Craig-Martin, Michael &#124; Arts Council Collection|website=www.artscouncilcollection.org.uk}}</ref> * [[British Council]], United Kingdom<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://visualarts.britishcouncil.org/collection/artists/craig-martin-michael-1941/initial/c|title=Michael Craig-Martin &#124; Artists &#124; Collection &#124; British Council − Visual Arts|website=visualarts.britishcouncil.org}}</ref> * [[Government Art Collection]], United Kingdom<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gac.culture.gov.uk/gacdb/search.php?mode=show&id=1638784|title=Government Art Collection - Contact us|website=www.gac.culture.gov.uk}}</ref> * [[Victoria and Albert Museum]], London, United Kingdom<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/search/?listing_type=&offset=0&limit=15&narrow=&extrasearch=&q=michael+craig-martin&commit=Search&quality=0&objectnamesearch=&placesearch=&after=&before=&namesearch=&materialsearch=&mnsearch=&locationsearch=|title=Your Search Results &#124; Search the Collections &#124; Victoria and Albert Museum|website=collections.vam.ac.uk}}</ref> * [[Tate]], London, United Kingdom<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/michael-craig-martin-955|title=Michael Craig-Martin born 1941|website=Tate}}</ref> * [[Museum of Modern Art]], New York, USA<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.moma.org/artists/1288?locale=en|title=Michael Craig-Martin &#124; MoMA|website=The Museum of Modern Art}}</ref> * [[Harvard University Art Museums]], Cambridge, USA<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.harvardartmuseums.org/collections/person/19159|title=Harvard Art Museums|website=www.harvardartmuseums.org}}</ref> * [[Yale Center for British Art]], Connecticut, USA<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/vufind/Search/Results?join=AND&lookfor0%5B%5D=&type0%5B%5D=allfields&bool0%5B%5D=AND&lookfor1%5B%5D=&type1%5B%5D=title&bool1%5B%5D=AND&lookfor2%5B%5D=michael+craig-martin&type2%5B%5D=auth_author&bool2%5B%5D=AND&lookfor3%5B%5D=&type3%5B%5D=earliestDate&bool3%5B%5D=AND&lookfor4%5B%5D=&type4%5B%5D=topic&bool4%5B%5D=AND&lookfor5%5B%5D=&type5%5B%5D=geographic&bool5%5B%5D=AND|title=Search Results - (Creator:michael craig-martin)|website=collections.britishart.yale.edu}}</ref> ==Personal life== Craig-Martin met Jann Hashey while at [[Yale University]],<ref name=Telegraph /> and married her in 1963.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}} The couple had a daughter, Jessica Craig-Martin, now a photographer.<ref>{{cite news|first=David |last=Colman |date=29 June 2003| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/29/style/possessed-letting-fate-take-the-picture.html | title=Possessed – Letting Fate Take the Picture | newspaper=[[New York Times]]}}</ref> The marriage ended.<ref name=Telegraph>{{citation|title=Michael Craig-Martin: Out of the Ordinary|publisher=Daily Telegraph |date=24 November 2007 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3669527/Michael-Craig-Martin-out-of-the-ordinary.html|access-date=14 January 2010|location=London|first=Cressida|last=Connolly}}</ref>{{when|date=September 2018}} Craig-Martin is one-eighth [[British Chinese|Chinese]], as his great-grandmother was a native of [[Wuhan]], China.<ref>{{citation|title=Michael Craig-Martin is known as the Godfather of the Young British Artists|publisher=South China Morning Post|date=29 June 2014|url=http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1541687/michael-craig-martin-known-godfather-young-british-artists|access-date=30 April 2017|location=London|first=Fionnuala|last=McHugh}}</ref> Craig-Martin was appointed a [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] (CBE) in the [[2001 Birthday Honours]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=56237 |date=16 June 2001 |page=9 |supp=y}}</ref> Craig-Martin was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] in the [[2016 Birthday Honours]] for services to art.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=61608 |supp=y|page=B2|date=11 June 2016}}</ref> ==See also== *''[[What Do Artists Do All Day?]]'' ==References== ===Footnotes=== {{Reflist}} ===Sources=== {{refbegin}} * {{cite book| author-link=Richard Cork| last1=Cork |first1=Richard | year=2006 | title= Michael Craig-Martin | publisher= [[Thames & Hudson]] | location= London | isbn=978-0-500-09332-0}} {{refend}} ==External links== * {{Official website}} * {{Art UK bio}} {{Young British Artists|state=collapsed}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Craig-Martin, Michael}} [[Category:1941 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Royal Academicians]] [[Category:Academics of Goldsmiths, University of London]] <!-- holds dual citizenship --> [[Category:Irish contemporary artists]] [[Category:Irish people of Chinese descent]] [[Category:Artists from Dublin (city)]] [[Category:Alumni of the Académie de la Grande Chaumière]] [[Category:Yale University alumni]] [[Category:Fordham University alumni]] [[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]] [[Category:Knights Bachelor]]'