WORKS OF THE WEEK: Michael Craig-Martin
Michael Craig-Martin
Fountain Pen (turquoise), 2019
Powder-coated steel
400 x 42 x 2 cm
157 ½ x 16 ½ x ¾ in.
Edition 1 of 3 plus 1 AP
Prepare your garden for the coming autumn with this larger-than-life wheelbarrow. Michael Craig-Martin’s Wheelbarrow is characteristic of his sculptural practice, using precise lines that demarcate everyday objects in flat planes. A form of making that Craig-Martin has been exploring since 2011, his vibrant powder-coated steel ‘drawings in the sky’ were first exhibited at Chatsworth House in 2014. The juxtaposition between the natural landscape of Roche Court, and the vivid, synthetic shades of the work induces a tangible experience in the role of the spectator, and prompts us to consider contemporary symbols and narratives.
Michael Craig-Martin attended Fordham University, New York, from 1959 to 1961, then Yale University. He taught at Goldsmiths School of Art, London, from 1974 to 1988 and from 1994 to 2000, inspiring generations of artists including the YBAs. Craig-Martin has shown at distinguished institutions worldwide, including the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria, the Goss-Michael Foundation, Dallas, Chatsworth House, England and the Shanghai Himalayas Museum in China. His work is included in numerous public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Tate, London; Centre Pompidou, Paris; and Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid.
There is a major retrospective exhibition and celebration of Michael Craig-Martin's work, which opens at the Royal Academy next week.