Posted on: 27 November 2017
Renowned Irish-born artist Michael Craig gave a public talk about the ideas that have been expressed through his artwork and teaching at an event in Trinity College Dublin on Thursday, November 23, 2017.
To mark the centenary of French artist Marcel Duchamp’s iconic Fountain (1917), Craig-Martin discussed his own personal response to Duchamp’s influence and its role in his work before the evolution of his own distinctive perspective. The event was hosted by the Trinity Irish Art Research Centre (TRIARC) in association with Trinity’s student-run Visual Arts Society.
Internationally recognised for his exceptional contribution both as an artist and as a teacher, Michael Craig-Martin was born in Dublin and grew up in the United States where during the 1960s he studied at Yale School of Art and Architecture. His supportive and influential methods as a tutor at Goldsmiths College, London led him to become known as the godfather of the Young British Artists — a group that includes Julian Opie, Damien Hirst, Sarah Lucas, Liam Gillick, and Gary Hume.
In 2001 he was awarded a CBE for his contribution to visual art and, in addition to major exhibitions and commissions across the globe, his work features in collections including the Tate, London, the Centre Pompidou, Paris, the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, the Museum of Modern Art, New York and, of course, the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin.
The event was presented 'in conversation' with Sean Rainbird, Director of the National Gallery of Ireland. The event was launched and introducing by Linda Doyle, Professor of Engineering and the Arts, School of Engineering and Dr Yvonne Scott, Associate Professor in the History of Art, School of Histories and Humanities, and Director of TRIARC.
Dr Scott said: “It is difficult to overstate the contribution of Michael Craig-Martin to visual art in recent decades. Not only is he one of the most significant Irish visual artist to be recognised on the global stage, he is appreciated also as a gifted communicator, not just through his distinctive art which is at once engaging and challenging, but also his renowned capacity for communication with his students at Goldsmiths College; notably, through his advice, insights and encouragement, he engendered in them the confidence to express themselves and reach towards their potential.”
Picture credit on main page: Caroline True
