Michael Craig-Martin: Signs of Life

The series "Signs of Life" concentrates on the idea of a universally comprehensive picture language made up of mundane objects like the paintbrushes, flashlights and folding chairs Craig-Martin has made into a screensaver (which is available from MoMA.org) and objects from the art world, of which he says, "To draw Piero [della Francesca] is the same thing to me as drawing a shoe." Or, as he demonstrates, as drawing a Seurat. Canvases and wall-filling paintings conjoin here into a total artwork with a strong personality. Michael Craig-Martin, whom the BBC has called "the father of Britart" has taught at Goldsmiths College, London, since 1974. His work has been shown in the UK at the Hayward Gallery, the Whitechapel Gallery and the Tate Modern, and in the U.S. at Gagosian Gallery and The Museum of Modern Art.