Events
Visit
Michael Craig-Martin
The Connaught Christmas Tree
November 22, 2018–January 6, 2019
The Connaught, London
www.the-connaught.co.uk
Inspired by the fairy lights typically used to decorate Christmas trees, Michael Craig-Martin has used 12,000 rainbow-hued lights to transform the Connaught’s Norwegian spruce, which stands almost 30 feet (9 meters) tall, into a dynamic and distinctive sight to celebrate the holiday season. The lights run in intricately placed single strands from the tree’s top to its bottom, and the colors continually change, shifting in a carefully choreographed pattern.
Artwork © Michael Craig-Martin
Public Installation
Michael Craig-Martin
December 2017
CityPlace, West Palm Beach, Florida
www.cityplace.com
Michael Craig-Martin has transformed the exterior of a former Macy’s with his largest mural to date, Palm Beach Parade. The retailer abandoned the site earlier this year, and this project aims to transform the struggling shopping center in which the store was situated by putting culture at the forefront.
Michael Craig-Martin, Palm Beach Parade, 2017 © Michael Craig-Martin
Public Installation
Frieze Sculpture
July 5–October 8, 2017
Regent’s Park, London
www.frieze.com
Clare Lilley, director of programs at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, has selected twenty-five new and significant sculptures by leading artists around the world to be on view in Regent’s Park. Work by John Chamberlain, Michael Craig-Martin, and Urs Fischer is included.
Urs Fischer, Invisible Mother, 2015. Photo: Lucy Dawkins
Public Installation
Michael Craig-Martin
March 20–May 31, 2017
The Peninsula Hong Kong
hongkong.peninsula.com
Michael Craig-Martin’s sculpture Bright Idea (2016), a giant yellow steel lightbulb, is on view in the courtyard of the Peninsula Hong Kong, along with new paintings by the artist on the hotel’s first floor.
Photo by Simon J Nicol
Announcements
Commission
Michael Craig-Martin
Bloomberg, London
www.bloomberg.com
Michael Craig-Martin has created the site-specific work Lexicon (2017) for Bloomberg’s new European headquarters in London. Comprised of twelve parts on three floors of the building, this permanent installation takes everyday objects and enlarges them to a monumental scale.
Michael Craig-Martin, Lexicon, 2017 (detail). Photo: James Newton
Video
Michael Craig-Martin
From Artist to School
Artist and professor Michael Craig-Martin looks back on the years he taught YBAs at Goldsmiths in London, recalling their shared energy and passion for art, if not a shared style, and giving advice to current students on making the transition from student to practicing artist.
Museum Exhibitions
Opening Soon
RA Summer Exhibition 2019
June 10–August 12, 2019
Royal Academy of Arts, London
www.royalacademy.org.uk
Running annually since 1769, the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition is the world’s largest open submission art show. It brings together art
in all mediums–prints, paintings, film, photography, sculpture,
architectural works and more—with around 1,200 works on display, many of them for the first time. Work by Michael Craig-Martin, Thomas Houseago, and Anselm Kiefer is included.
Thomas Houseago, Untitled (Abstract Column II), 2018 © Thomas Houseago
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Michael Craig-Martin
Present Sense
January 29–April 25, 2019
Gallery at Windsor, Vero Beach, Florida
www.windsorflorida.com
The most comprehensive exhibition to date of Michael Craig-Martin’s work in the United States, Present Sense features over thirty-five works in the gallery and grounds of the Windsor, including recent paintings, sculptures, and prints. The show is presented in collaboration with the Royal Academy, London, and curated by Gagosian director Hannah Freedberg.
Michael Craig-Martin, Gate (white), 2011, installation view, Windsor, Vero Beach, Florida © Michael Craig-Martin
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The Classical Now
March 2–April 28, 2018
King’s College, London
www.kcl.ac.uk
The Classical Now pairs the work of modern and contemporary artists with classical Greek and Roman antiquities. The exhibition traces the ways in which Greco-Roman art has captured and permeated modern imagination, while exploring the myriad continuities and contrasts between the ancient, modern, and contemporary, revealing the “classical” as a living and fluid tradition. Work by Michael Craig-Martin, Damien Hirst, Alex Israel, Yves Klein, Roy Lichtenstein, Henry Moore, Bruce Nauman, Pablo Picasso, and Rachel Whiteread is included.
Roy Lichtenstein, Temple, 1964 © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein
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Michael Craig-Martin in
Folkestone Triennial 2017
September 2–November 5, 2017
Folkestone, England
www.folkestonetriennial.org.uk
This exhibition invites artists to engage with the rich cultural history of Folkestone and to exhibit newly commissioned work in public spaces around the town. A new commissioned work by Michael Craig-Martin is included.
Michael Craig-Martin, Folkestone Lightbulb, 2017. Commissioned by the Creative Foundation for Folkestone Triennial 2017. Photo by Thierry Bal
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Turkish Tulips
July 29–November 5, 2017
The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, England
www.thebowesmuseum.org.uk
The familiar tulip becomes unfamiliar as its role in history chronicles a greater play. This exhibition brings together works by thirty artists to explore the relationship between Europe and the Middle East. It is a story about migration and about how much is owed to the
East—a land steeped in culture, mathematics, science, and philosophy. This is also a romantic story set
in seventeenth-century Europe,
a fable about social inequality and extravagance. Work by Michael Craig-Martin and Damien Hirst is included.
Michael Craig-Martin, Tulips (after Mapplethorpe), 2016