Love Art at The Peninsula Presents Bright Idea
Sir Michael Craig-Martin with Royal Academy of Arts
The British Council is delighted to support Bright Idea by Sir Michael Craig-Martin in conversation with Tim Marlow, Artistic Director of the Royal Academy of Arts. Sir Michael Craig-Martin will look back on his ground-breaking career at the forefront of British contemporary art.
Monday, 20 March 2017
18.30 – 20.00 (Registration starts from 18.00)
Grand Hall, Lee Shau Kee Lecture Centre
Centennial Campus, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong
FREE admission, registration is required.
Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.
Please register at www.ticketflap.com/love-art
About Sir Michael Craig-Martin RA
Michael Craig-Martin has been one of the leading figures of British conceptual art for the past four decades, both as a hugely influential artist and as an esteemed teacher. Born 1941 in Dublin, Ireland, he moved to the United States at a young age and went on to study Fine Art at the Yale School of Art and Architecture, before returning to Britain in 1966. His early work saw him swiftly gain reputation for a minimal touch and keen sense of the tension between objects and language, which has continued to this day. His early interest in provoking a discourse around the semantics of everyday experience and language was exemplified by “An Oak Tree” (1973), a provocative installation that saw the artist position a simple glass of water on a shelf, accompanied by a written assertion that he has changed the glass of water into an oak tree.
Since the 1990s, Craig-Martin has focused on painting, developing a signature style with everyday objects depicted in bold, black outlines and painted in a palette of vibrant colours. Today, these defining works can be found in contemporary art collections around the world. In 2014, Craig-Martin hosted a landmark exhibition of 12 large scale powder-coated steel sculptures in the grounds of 17th-century British stately home Chatsworth House. Here – everyday objects such as a hammer, an umbrella or pitchfork provoked contemplation of objects we take for granted – while retaining a sense of playfulness in their simple forms and bright colours.
Represented by Gagosian Gallery and Alan Cristea Gallery, Craig-Martin was elected to the Royal Academy in 2006 and was commissioned as coordinator of the Royal Academy’s annual Summer Exhibition in 2015. He was awarded a CBE in 2000, and in 2016, was knighted by the Queen for his services to art.
Michael Craig-Martin is also celebrated for his time as a tutor at Goldsmiths College, University of London, between 1974 and 1988, and then again from 1994 to 2000. During this time, Craig-Martin taught and had a profound influence on an emerging generation of artists who went on to become known as the Young British Artists or “YBAs”. This group included some of the biggest names in contemporary art today – Damien Hirst, Julien Opie, Sarah Lucas and Gary Hume – creating a legacy that earned Craig-Martin the nickname “The Godfather of Brit Art”.