martin creed

martin creed's work has incited widespread comparison to conceptual art, because of his clean formalism ...................................................................

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martin creed

- november 2001 -

art should not be taken so terribly seriously.
work no. 201, 'half the air in a given space'
translates this normally invisible measurement of air
into a tangible form.
it is a room filled with balloons which contain exactly
half of the air that was calculated to fit inside that room.
visitors wade through a sea of latex gliding slowly to avoid
popping the work. it is unpredictably playful.

martin creed's work has incited widespread comparison
to conceptual art, because of his clean formalism.
he makes you aware of your own self-conciousness
in handling with abstraction.
creed is asking the eternal question: 'what can I do'.

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the titling of creed's art
creed began to number his works,
not as a chronological catalogue but as a method of
description.
the titles given to the pieces also define them.

for example work no. 142, 'a large piece of furniture
partially obstructing a door'.
this work is exactly as the title describes:
a large wardrobe in a doorframe in the gallery.
you can physically walk past it, but you cannot fail to
notice it as the piece is nevertheless in the way.

and he comes up with equations:
the piece comissioned for tate britain gallery,
the large neon text, says:
'the whole world + the work = the whole world'
value reduced to zero?
is creed implying that art does not count for anything?
the paradoxical desire and contradictory impulse
to produce something and nothing?
is art part of our lives and it does not need to be
defined as a separate component?

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owada
music plays an important role in creed's artwork:
creed formed the band 'owada' in 1994.
the first cd is titled 'nothing', released on 1998
on david cunningham's piano 508 label.
http://www.owada.fsnet.co.uk

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turner prize
martin creed is one of the the 2001 turner prize's
nominees for 'martin creed works', organised by
southampton city art gallery and shown at leeds
city art gallery, lluecoat gallery, liverpool, and camden
arts centre, london and 'art now: martin creed',
tate britain, london,
in which he reaffirmed the rigour and purity of his work
and its characteristic mixture of seriousness and humour.

an exhibition of a selection of works by all 4 short-listed
artists is on view at tate britain
from 7 november 2001 - 20 january 2002
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/exhibitions/turnerprize.htm

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on martin creed
martin creed was born 1968 in wakefield, england.
1986 - 1990 slade school of fine arts
he lives and works in london.
creed regularly exhibits in britain, europe and america.
recent solo exhibitions include
camden arts centre, 2001
tate britain, london 2000,
gavin brown’s enterprise corp, new york, 2000, W
the portico, london, 1999
and art metropole, toronto, 1999.

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martin creed

work no. 232, the whole world + the work = the whole world
white neon, 2000, © martin creed

work no. 220, 'don't worry'
white neon, 2000
© martin creed