Martin Creed facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Martin Creed
Martin Creed. Photo by Hugo Glendinning
Born	(1968-10-21) 21 October 1968 (age 56) Wakefield, England
Education	Slade School of Art at University College London
Notable work	Work No. 227: The lights going on and off Work No. 1059: The Scotsman Steps Work No. 1197: All The Bells
Awards	Turner Prize (2001)

Martin Creed (born 21 October 1968) is a British artist, composer, and performer. He won the famous Turner Prize in 2001. The jury praised his bravery for showing a single artwork, Work No. 227: The lights going on and off, in the Turner Prize exhibition. This artwork was an empty room where the lights turned on and off every five seconds. Creed lives and works in London.

About Martin Creed

Martin Creed was born in Wakefield, England. When he was three, his family moved to Glasgow because his father, a silversmith, got a teaching job there. Martin grew up loving art and music. His parents were Quakers, a religious group, and he often went to their meetings.

He went to Lenzie Academy and later studied art at the Slade School of Art at University College London from 1986 to 1990. After that, he lived in London, except for a few years (2000-2004) when he lived on Alicudi, an island in Italy. Today, he lives and works in London. He is also a vegan.

Martin Creed's Artworks

Martin Creed creates many different types of art. He makes films, installations (art setups in a space), paintings, theater shows, and live-action sculptures. He uses whatever material or method seems best for his idea.

Since 1987, he has given each of his artworks a number. Most of his titles describe exactly what the work is. For example:

• Work No. 79: some Blu-tack kneaded, rolled into a ball and depressed against a wall (1993)
• Work No. 88, a sheet of A4 paper crumpled into a ball (1995)

One of his well-known works is Work No. 200: Half the air in a given space (1998). This artwork fills half of a room with balloons.

'Work No. 204: Half the air in a given space' on display in Turin, Italy, 1999.

Famous Art Projects

Martin Creed won the 2001 Turner Prize for two exhibitions: Martin Creed Works and Art Now: Martin Creed. His entry for the Turner Prize show at the Tate Gallery was Work No. 227: The lights going on and off. This artwork was an empty room where the lights turned on and off every five seconds.

This piece got a lot of attention from the media. Many people wondered if something so simple could really be called art. However, the jury praised his work. They said they "admired the bravery in presenting a single work" and noted its "strength, strictness, humor, and sensitivity to the place."

Creed's art has often caused debate. Once, a visitor threw eggs at the walls of his empty room to protest the prize. The person said Creed's art was not real art and that painting was "in danger of becoming an extinct skill." In recent years, Creed has shown paintings in almost all of his exhibitions.

Work No. 850: an athlete running through Tate Britain gallery

Work No. 1197: All the bells in the country rung as quickly and as loudly as possible for three minutes was a special project. It was made to announce the start of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

In 2009, Creed created Work No. 1020: Ballet. This was a live performance that included his music, ballet, words, and film. It was first shown at Sadler's Wells in London. This ballet was also performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and in New York. In 2014, it was performed at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London.

Many of his artworks can be seen by the public for free. These include the Scotsman Steps in Edinburgh, the "DON'T WORRY" sign at St Peter's Church in Cologne, and the singing lifts at The Royal Festival Hall in London. He also has a huge spinning sign that says "MOTHERS" on a roof in Fort Worth, Texas.

Many of his works are also in museum collections around the world. For example, a floor artwork is permanently installed at Colleccion Jumex in Mexico City. His famous "lights going on and off" piece is at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Work No. 1000 is made of 1000 hand prints created with broccoli. This shows Creed's funny and playful approach to art. Creed continues to show his work internationally and often gives talks and plays live with his band.

Permanent Art Installations

Creed's Work No. 975 EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT was put on the front of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in November 2009. This phrase has been used in several related artworks, each with its own number.

• Work No.225 (1999): A red neon sign in New York's Times Square.
• Work No.790 (2007): A 30-meter-long version in Detroit.
• Work No.851 (2008): A white neon sign 23 meters long on a museum building in Vancouver.
• Most recently, a 46-meter colorful version was made for Christchurch Art Gallery in New Zealand.

In 2011, Creed was asked to create an artwork for the historic Scotsman Steps in Edinburgh. Creed's Work No. 1059 covers each of the 104 steps and landings with a different type of marble. Art critic Jonathan Jones called it "a generous, modest masterpiece of contemporary public art."

In 2012, Creed was the first artist to design a restaurant at Sketch in London. He created Work No. 1343, where every piece of cutlery, glass, chair, and table was different. He mixed mass-produced items with handmade ones, from old antiques to modern designs. Work No. 1347, still at the restaurant, has 96 different types of marble on the floor in a zigzag pattern.

In 2019, Work No. 2950: WHATEVER was placed on a building roof in Auckland, New Zealand. It is a large, colorful neon sign showing the word “WHATEVER.”

Martin Creed's Music

Martin Creed's first band, Owada, started in 1994. In 1997, they released their first CD, Nothing. Sound is also part of his gallery art, with pieces using doorbells, drum machines, and metronomes. Since 1999, he has used his own name for music. In 2000, he released a recording of his songs called I Can't Move.

In 2010, he designed the cover art for a Futuristic Retro Champions song. He also played with his own band, which included Keiko Owada on bass.

Creed started his own music label, Telephone Records. He released the single "Thinking/ Not Thinking" in 2011, followed by "Where You Go" in 2012. His album Love To You came out in 2012. It was produced by David Cunningham, Martin Creed, and The Nice NIce Boys. The Vinyl Factory made a special edition of the album with hand-painted covers by Creed.

In January 2014, he released Mind Trap, an album with songs and orchestral pieces. Creed sings and plays instruments on the album. It also features gospel singers Dee Alexander and Yvonne Gage. The album includes three orchestral works:

• Work No. 955 for the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
• Work No. 994 for the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra
• Work No. 1375 for the London Sinfonietta

These pieces were recorded by the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra. All the songs and music on the album were written by Martin Creed, except for "New Shutters," which is his version of an old Italian folk song. The album cover features one of Martin's paintings, Work No. 1674: Anouchka.

In November 2015, he released new audio and video work about the Syrian refugee crisis. The double single “Let Them In / Border Control” was available for free online. Creed made the videos for both songs himself.

In July 2016, Martin Creed released a new album called Thoughts Lined Up. This album includes the songs "Understanding" and "Princess Taxi Girl," which also have music videos.

Martin Creed's Discography

Martin Creed's Ideas About Art

In a 2002 book called Art Now: Interviews with Modern Artists, Creed explained his thoughts on art. He used to "make paintings" but never liked having to decide what to paint. So, he stopped making paintings and started thinking about what art meant and why he wanted to create things.

Creed says he makes art not just for academic study of "conceptual" art. Instead, he makes art because he wants to connect with people. He says it's like "wanting to communicate and wanting to say hello."

Art Exhibitions

In 1996, artists Richard Long and Roger Ackling chose Creed to show his work at EASTinternational. Since winning the Turner Prize, he has shown his art all over the world. This includes big shows at Trussardi Foundation in Milan and Bard College in New York. He also had a traveling exhibition that started at Ikon Gallery in Birmingham and went to Hiroshima and Seoul.

The first major show of Creed's work, called 'What's the point of it?', opened at the Hayward Gallery in London in January 2014. The exhibition included many of his most famous works:

• Work No. 227 The Lights Going On and Off (2000)
• Work No. 293 A sheet of paper crumpled into a ball (2003)
• His large sculpture Work No. 1092 MOTHERS (2011)

At the same time as the Hayward exhibition, the Southbank Centre asked Martin to write a new piece for the Royal Festival Hall organ. This resulted in Work No. 1815, a performance alongside some of J.S. Bach's greatest organ music.

Creed's largest show so far was at Park Avenue Armory in New York from June to August 2016. It was called 'The Back Door'. The show featured artworks from his career of more than 20 years.

In 2017, he had an exhibition at Museum Voorlinden in the Netherlands called Say Cheese. In this show, he displayed a wall with 1000 broccoli prints in different colors. He also filled a room with blue balloons for people to walk through. In another room, many metronomes ticked at different speeds.

In 2019, the Centro Botín Centre held an exhibition called Amigos. It ran from April 6 to June 9 and included several new installations. One of these was placed among the trees around the building.

Also in 2019, the Museum of Recent Art held an exhibition called Thinking / Not Thinking. It ran from February 12 to May 2 and featured several installations.

See also

In Spanish: Martin Creed para niños