Michael Craig-Martin

(Irish, born 1941)

Michael Craig-Martin is an Irish Conceptual artist. Frequently working in candy-colored paintings of text and everyday objects, Craig-Martin’s practice is both varied and playful. Among his best-known works is An Oak Tree (1973), which consists of a glass of water placed on a bracketed glass ledge accompanied by a text asserting that the glass of water is, in fact, an oak tree which has been altered from one physical state into another. An influential educator, he is also known for being the teacher of many of the Young British Artists, such as Damien Hirst and Gary Hume, during their time studying at Goldsmiths in London. Born on August 28, 1941 in Dublin, Ireland, Craig-Martin went on to study at Fordham University in the Bronx and took a painting course at Yale University taught by Al Held and Alex Katz. His work can be found in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and the Tate Gallery in London, among others. He lives and works in London, England.