Michael Craig-Martin's drawings on paper have been garnering hype of late - thanks to a current show at London's Alan Cristea Gallery - but it's his drawings in the air that are really stopping us in our tracks.
On show at Roche Court's New Art Centre in Wiltshire, the umbrellas, gate, hammer and light bulb may in fact be sculptures, but when rendered in a stark, brightly coloured outline in 3D, they look like an extraordinary fusion of comic book with real life.
The 70-year-old artist is known for the mechanical way he conjures everyday forms, without inflection or any sense of his own hand in his work. 'I've always wanted to make drawings that were absolutely style-less,' he says. His simple artistic vocabulary allows him to explore notions of form, function, and perspective with a powerful economy of means, conveyed all the more strongly with the sheer scale of these new works.
Alongside the sculptures, the New Art Centre is also showing a series of new paintings by the Dublin-born artist - multi-layered compositions of letters and objects that combine to characteristically perplexing effect.
'Umbrella (blue)' by Michael Craig-Martin
'Hammer' by Michael Craig-Martin
'Gate' by Michael Craig-Martin
'Bulb' by Michael Craig-Martin
Inside the New Art Centre gallery is a new series of paintings by Michael Craig-Martin, including 'SEX'
'TIME' by Michael Craig-Martin
'FLESH' by Michael Craig-Martin
'DATE' by Michael Craig-Martin
'NAME' by Michael Craig-Martin
ADDRESS
New Art Centre
Roche Court
East Winterslow
Salisbury
Wiltshire SP5 1BG
-
The return of the bullhead: the watch design that refuses to conformLittle known outside of watch circles, but enthusiastically collected within them, bullhead watches have always been divisive. Identified by the crown at 12 o’clock, it made design sense – no digging into the wrist, allowing easier function as a stopwatch - but remains a speciality. But now, the bullhead is back
-
Tour Peridot, Hong Kong’s hypnotic new barLocated on the 38th floor of The Henderson, Studio Paolo Ferrari’s latest project is a study in ‘light, refraction, and intimacy’
-
Lighting designer Andi Watson on creating Mitski’s sculptural stage for 'The Land'In Mitski’s live show and new concert film, a single beam of light becomes her dance partner. Lighting designer Andi Watson discusses turning shadow, movement and restraint into the architecture of feeling
-
Riccardo Dalisi’s first UK retrospective opens at east London gallery Spazio LeoneSpazio Leone draws together six decades of the Italian visionary’s work, from whimsical coffee pots to radical community workshops
-
Inside the fight to keep an iconic Barbara Hepworth sculpture in the UK‘Sculpture with Colour’ captures a pivotal moment in Hepworth’s career. When it was sold to an overseas buyer, UK institutions launched a campaign to keep it in the country
-
Thirty-five years after its creation, Lynn Hershman Leeson’s seminal video is as poignant as everLynn Hershman Leeson’s 'Desire Inc', at 243 Luz in Margate, blurs the boundaries between art and reality
-
A bespoke 40m mixed-media dragon is the centrepiece of Glastonbury’s new chill-out areaNew for 2025 is Dragon's Tail – a space to offer some calm within Glastonbury’s late-night area with artwork by Edgar Phillips at its heart
-
Lubaina Himid and Magda Stawarska’s new show at Kettle’s Yard will uncover the missing narratives in everyday life storiesThe artists and partners in life are collaborating on an immersive takeover of Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, in an exhibition that delves into a lost literary legacy
-
See the fruits of Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely's creative and romantic union at Hauser & Wirth SomersetAn intimate exhibition at Hauser & Wirth Somerset explores three decades of a creative partnership
-
Caroline Walker's new show speaks to women everywhere, including me'Everything related to my life with young children, because it's such an all encompassing experience,' the artist says of her new show at the Hepworth Wakefield
-
Cassi Namoda is rethinking stained-glass windows at Turner Contemporary in MargateThe artist drew from an eclectic range of references when considering the traditional medium for a Turner Contemporary window overlooking the beach – she tells us more
