Prints and Drawings Room
View by appointment- Artist
- Martin Creed born 1968
- Medium
- Lithograph on paper
- Dimensions
- Image: 760 × 600 mm
- Collection
- Tate
- Acquisition
- Presented by The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games 2012
- Reference
- P13274
Summary
This work is part of a portfolio of twelve prints by British artists that was commissioned by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games to commemorate the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The contributing artists were Fiona Banner, Michael Craig-Martin, Martin Creed, Tracey Emin, Anthea Hamilton, Howard Hodgkin, Gary Hume, Sarah Morris, Chris Ofili, Bridget Riley, Bob and Roberta Smith and Rachel Whiteread. Creed, Hamilton, Hodgkin, Ofili, Riley and Whiteread were invited to create images for the Olympic Games while Banner, Craig-Martin, Emin, Hume, Morris and Smith created images for the Paralympic Games. The portfolio was produced in an edition of 150.
In a visually saturated world, artists can be faced with seemingly endless possibilities and choices. In response Martin Creed imposes simple rules on his creativity. He might create a painting using only paintbrushes bought in a multi-pack, or make only one mark a day with the same felt-tip pen until the whole paper surface is covered. Repetition, stacks, and intervals are familiar motifs in his work, along with ascending and descending structures. For Work No.1273, Creed has made five single brush marks using a palette derived from the Olympic colours. The marks get progressively thicker from top to bottom and are arranged in an ascending form that seems to represent an extended podium offering places beyond first, second and third. Creed’s image can be seen as expressing his respect for the excellence of all competing Olympic sportsmen and women.
Further reading
Julia Beaumont-Jones, A Century of Prints in Britain, London 2017, pp.33–4, reproduced p.222.
Leyla Fakhr
November 2011
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