Michael Craig-Martin

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Picture of Oak Tree hanging in the Tate Modern

Michael Craig-Martin (born 28 August 1941, Dublin, Ireland) is a conceptual artist and a painter. He is particularly noted for his influence over the Young British Artists, many of whom he taught.

[edit] Life and work

Although born in Ireland, Craig-Martin grew up and was educated in the USA, studying Fine Art at Yale University. He moved to Britain on completion of his studies in 1966.

In the early 1970s he exhibited the seminal piece Oak Tree (now in the Tate collection). The work consists of a glass of water standing on a shelf attached to the gallery wall next to which is a text[1] using a semiotic argument to explain why it is in fact an oak tree. Nevertheless, on one occasion when it was barred by US Customs officials from entering the country as vegetation, he was forced to explain it was really a glass of water^{[citation needed]}.

Milton Keynes Gallery: surface treatment by Craig-Martin

Craig-Martin's style of detached conceptualism, minimal construction by the artist and the use of readymade techniques inspired by Marcel Duchamp had a marked impression on his students, as did an educational structure based on multi-media, removing traditional departmental demarcations such as "painting", "sculpture" and "time-based [film] media". As a senior tutor at Goldsmiths' College, he was a significant influence on the emerging YBA generation, including Damien Hirst. He was also helpful in promoting the Freeze show to established artworld figures.

Craig-Martin's later works have used a stylised drawing technique often depicting everyday household objects and sometimes incorporating art references, such as objects known from their use in Dada artworks. There is no differentiation in treatment, which consists of black line drawings with lines of equal mechanical width and brightly coloured images, which have been compared to "nursery" colours. The work can be done on canvas with (acrylic) paint or with other methods, such as using black tape to make the lines. In the Intelligence show at Tate Britain he completed an entire room in this fashion.

Craig-Martin has been a trustee of the Tate Gallery and is a trustee of the National Art Collections Fund.