theEYE: Martin Creed

theEYE: Martin Creed

Synopsis

Martin Creed is one of Britain's most engaging contemporary artists. His self-effacing work reflects an anxiety to communicate in a world already full of too many things. So he frequently tries to produce both something and nothing, and does so in idiosyncratic ways with the modest means from everyday life. In 2000 his MARTINCREEDWORKS solo exhibition was organised by Southampton City Art Gallery. The show provided the first opportunity to reflect on a wide range of Creed's creations, produced over a decade, including sculpture, installations, interventions, statements and also musical compositions performed with his band Owada. Much of this work is illustrated here. Martin Creed discusses his uncertainties about making new works and his reluctance to name what he does as 'art'. He also illustrated how simple, ordinary objects, seen in new ways, can suggest often complex and contradictory meanings. Such objects, and the ideas and questions that they provoke, surprise and delight audiences whose individual experiences of the works will often be strikingly different.