Artists are asking for belief: Michael Craig-Martin

Gallery Hyundai presents large-scale exhibition on father of Young U.K. Artists


A glass of water on a shelf, titled “An Oak Tree,” created a stir in the art world in 1974, placing Michael Craig-Martin, the artist, in the limelight. It became difficult to talk about British art, let alone contemporary art in general, without mentioning his name ever since.

“What I have tried to do with the oak tree was to say that in the end, it is important for the viewers to believe in the work. The artist is asking for belief,” Craig-Martin told The Korea Herald on Friday.

The work seemed to be in line with other conceptual masterpieces like Rene Magritte’s “Ceci n’est pas une pipe” or Marcel Duchamp’s “Fountain” in terms of seeing obvious objects differently, and Craig-Martin agreed that it is from the same tradition.

“I love both of those works, and it is very much something to understand the nature of art through simple objects. Magritte referred to the difference between word and image, and Duchamp referred to the context by placing the object into the context of art to be seen as an art,” he said.

Craig-Martin, who became one of the world’s most influential teachers as well as artists in the past four decades, is nothing like stammering daubsters or lofty veterans who refuse to talk about their art. Craig-Martin even gave a clear answer to what viewers should look for in the mind-boggling contemporary artworks. 

“Works of art are not mysteries but are mysterious. If you are reading a poem and you refuse to allow the poem, it won’t make sense to you. You have to allow the poem. It is same with art. If you really want to engage with the artwork, you need to give yourself to it a little bit.”

The artist, known for his colorful iconic paintings, is Emeritus Professor of Fine Art at Goldsmiths, University of London. He has taught most of the members of the Young British Artists, namely Damien Hirst. In 2001, he was made Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his contribution to British contemporary art, and this year the world will be looking at campaign posters he created for the 2012 London Paralympics.

The latest solo exhibition in Seoul follows the 2009 PKM Trinity Gallery show. The current show is comparatively bigger ― even the artist commented that it is the biggest he has ever held since the one at Gagosian Gallery.

Craig-Martin said that he was surprised and happy to know so many Koreans were interested in his work.

“I even got fan mail. It is unusual. In England, I get correspondence from young people because sometimes they discuss my work in schools,” he said, looking pleased.

The show, titled “WORD, IMAGE, DESIRE,” introduces about 20 of his latest paintings, including the 3-meter-high, 1.2-meter-wide blue hammer made of steel, his first-ever installation work to be showcased here.

Looking around the exhibits, one can see that more recent objects, such as mobile phones, were added to the list of mass-produced everyday items usually featured in his paintings, which the artist considers as “the real representations of the world that we’ve created.”

“Everything is becoming more and more alike in the world. Cameras never looked like phones before. Now, phones look like microwave cookers and a cooker look like TVs. I never tried to draw antiques but some of them already got outdated. It is interesting, we had diversity and now it is diminishing,” he said, pointing out that the mobile phone on his work is already outdated.

Another addition to his paintings are letters from the alphabet strewn around the canvas to form words like Desire, Fate and Art. The artist said that he drew them the same way he drew the images.

“I discovered that if I made the letters opaque and the images transparent, the words would become a kind of architecture for the pictures. The words stimulate imaginations but are not puzzles that you need to unravel. Each person brings something different to the work. I’m using words, but I am not a writer. The letters are acting in a pictorial way, not in a literary way,” he said.

What people expect from Craig-Martin, as much as inspiring artworks, is advice on good art education. He said that in art, nothing is basic.

“I’m not saying that people should not learn life-drawing, but should learn it only if it is actually useful. When you learn something, you learn at the expense of something else. You learn not to do something else. When you are learning that way of working, you are not learning the other way. But for you, maybe the other way would’ve been better. You may never find that,” he said.

“My idea of teaching was to help each student find the thing in themselves, the thing they were good at, that they were really interested in, and to build their work there. So it would depend from one student to another. A great deal of art teaching prevents people from finding this.”

He mentioned that he sees many talented and interesting Korean artists now compared to about 20 years ago, although he did not give names.

Another tip for educators and art students ― artists have to sacrifice many things. He had his share of difficult moments including when he had to face his family after coming out. He does not know if his honesty at the time inspired his creativity but the confession did happen about the same time as the birth of his monumental piece “An Oak Tree.”

“No one ever tells you when you are a student that it is not so hard to be a creative person when you are twenty, but it is harder at 30, 40, and very difficult to sustain and be in a creative for a lifetime. It is a very big demand,” he said.

“Every time I look at work, I think I’m just about to begin now. I haven’t quite done it yet. That’s how you keep going.”

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldcorp.com)