Istanbul Istanbul: Michael Craig Martin

Galerist is proud to present Michael Craig-Martin’s first solo exhibition in Turkey, ‘Istanbul Istanbul’. The exhibition consists of a body of the most recent works by one of the most influential and leading painters of our time. The exhibition, which is held under the sponsorship of Finansbank Private Banking with the contributions of British Council, can be seen at Galerist between September 11 and October 10.

Composed of a range of his latest works, ‘Istanbul Istanbul’ includes acrylic paintings on aluminum; and a large wall drawing named after the exhibition. In these recent works, Michael Craig-Martin explores the nature and potential of visual language through the use of commonplace objects, images, and materials. The artist chooses to depict images of ordinary objects from daily life such as umbrellas, shoes, chairs, cans, knives and drawers, while using words to denote abstract ideas and emotions like death, paradise and desire. According to the artist, the letters that form the words themselves turn into images that are equivalent to those of the objects. Many of his works such as Cash, Paradise and Real will be showcased for the first time in this exhibition.

Craig-Martin created Istanbul Istanbul, a large wall drawing, installed on two walls of Galerist, specifically for this exhibition. The artist states, “I thought of this as a title for my show at Galerist shortly after my first trip to Istanbul. The repetition of New York, New York seems to emphasize the strident sense of urgency and impatience that one associates with the city. On the other hand, the sound of the words Istanbul, Istanbul seems to me to conjure the poetic quality of this city, its mystery and complexity, its voluptuousness and sensuality. I wanted the wall work in the gallery to reflect these same characteristics.”

About the Artist:

Michael Craig-Martin is regarded as one of the most prestigious and influential conceptual artists of his period. Born in Dublin, Ireland (1941), the artist grew up in the United States and studied fine art at the Yale University School of Art. His first solo exhibition débuted at the Rowan Gallery (London) in 1969, since then, the artist has done numerous installations and exhibitions in important museums and galleries worldwide, including the Kunstvereins in Hannover, Dusseldorf, and Stuttgart, IVAM in Valencia, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Arp Museum in Rolandseck. In 1972, Craig-Martin participated in the definitive exhibition of British conceptual art, “The New Art” at the Hayward Gallery. His best known works include An oak tree of 1973, in which he claimed to have changed a glass of water into an oak tree, his large-scale black and white wall drawings and more recently his intensely colored paintings, installations, public commissions (e.g. Street life a large scale work on ceramic tiles for the new DLR station at Woolwich Arsenal, London) and collaborations with architects (e.g. the Laban Dance Centre in Deptford London with Herzog and DeMeuron). Michael Craig-Martin returned to Britain in 1966 and continues to live and to work in London. For over 20 years, the artist has been teaching at the prestigious Goldsmiths College in London and is considered a key figure in the emergence of the young British artists from the early 90’s. Amongst his former students are Damien Hirst, Gary Hume, Liam Gillick, Michael Landy, Mat Collishaw, Sarah Lucas, Julian Opie, and Fiona Rae