The Courtyard at Burlington House is dominated by a giant safety pin, an open umbrella, a pair of headphones, a nail and a tulip. Familiar, accessible objects blown up and turned into art.
The use of 'found' objects is central to Craig-Martin's work and they feature large in this restrospective in the main galleries at the Royal Academy. The first two rooms are the most 'conceptual', and colour-free. Craig-Martin burst onto the UK art scene in the early 70s with An Oak Tree, a glass of water on a high shelf with an accompanying Q&A explaining why it is, in fact, an oak tree. Look out for the note (the first of a series marked by a line drawing of a chameleon) inviting kids to consider what this means.
The white walls of the first rooms make your eyes blink when you turn into the colour-saturated galleries that form the main body of the show. It's all great fun. Huge, slick canvases of cassette tapes, sneakers, disposable coffee cups, pencil sharpeners jump off gloriously bright walls. Older kids who know a bit about painting will enjoy the room where some famous old paintings get the zooped up C-M treatment.
The last room is a '360 degree installation with sound' in which a whoosh of the images he has created over his career whirl all around you.
You will come out smiling, perhaps with a bit to think about on the idea of the impermanence of 'stuff' and what makes art. Since the 90s Craig-Martin has used computers for his work and this is definitely one that mini tech artists and graphic designers will love. In some ways it is a show that could have sat equally well in Kensington's Design Museum. And is no worse for that.
Michael Craig-Martin Royal Academy 21 September–10 December
Tickets: £22–£24.50 adults, U16s free.
Emily Turner, 18 September 2024
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