“When I was teaching I often said to students that you are trying to be too creative, don't be too creative, because there is so much already in what you are making, you don't need to do very much. You just need to do a little bit, and that is a lot.” NeedsTryingLittlesSaidBitsCreativeTeachingStudentsLittle Bit Author:Michael Craig-Martin
“You can see in my paintings, I've taken away the context, I've taken away the shadows, I've taken away expression, I've taken away the personal, and yet so much remains!” TakenPaintingExpressionShadowRemains Author:Michael Craig-Martin
“I've taken away everything I could think of, and yet what remains is enough. These days many more people come to my work, and once they see my work they will always recognize it.” PeopleThinkingEnoughTakenRemainsThese Days Author:Michael Craig-Martin
“I look at the character of the exhibition and I treat it as I would a painting or an installation. When I did the Summer Exhibition at Royal Academy, I did it exactly as I would when making a new work.” LooksCharacterPaintingSummerTreatsRoyalAcademyExhibitionsInstallationNew Work Author:Michael Craig-Martin
“My idea for every exhibition is we should be able to see every individual work without being distracted by the others, and it doesn't matter if it's quite crowded.” IfsShouldIdeasMatterAbleIndividualDistractedCrowdedExhibitionsIndividual Work Author:Michael Craig-Martin
“I would never put a sculpture in front of a painting, so that it is difficult to see the painting. I always place each thing so you can see it isolated. You can focus on every individual work.” IndividualDifficultFocusFrontsPaintingIsolatedSculptureIndividual Work Author:Michael Craig-Martin
“It's important for me to give each thing the possibility to speak and also to allow artworks speak to each other.” GivingImportantSpeakPossibilityArtwork Author:Michael Craig-Martin
“If things are too similar, the dialogue is not very interesting. If you put in contrast, big and small, abstract and representational, you set up the possibility of a discourse.” IfsBigsInterestingPossibilityDialogueAbstractContrastDiscourseVery Interesting Author:Michael Craig-Martin
“At the Summer Exhibition, I didn't really change anything; it's the same exhibition. All I changed is the presentation. I didn't really change the rules.” ChangedSummerPresentationExhibitions Author:Michael Craig-Martin
“There is no doubt when one comes from the West to China one understands pop art as having originally developed as part of Western tradition. There is a historical development, in which things find resonance in different places.” ArtDifferentDoubtDevelopmentTraditionHistoricalWestWesternChinaPopsNo DoubtDifferent PlaceResonancePop Art Author:Michael Craig-Martin
“When I go to China I see many artists whose work reflects on aspects of contemporary popular culture but obviously the history of Western art is not part of their own tradition.” ArtArtistCultureArt IsAspectTraditionWesternChinaContemporaryPopular Culture Author:Michael Craig-Martin
“I think from an artist's point of view, everything in art, in fact everything in the world is available as material.” ThinkingWorldArtFactsArtistViewsMaterialsAvailablePoint Of View Author:Michael Craig-Martin
“As an artist you are free to use any image, any style, any idea from any culture and any period of history.” IdeasUseArtistCultureStylePeriods Author:Michael Craig-Martin
“I think the best approach is not to be too much like the thing that they are referring to, see it as a guide.” ThinkingToo MuchApproachGuidesReferring Author:Michael Craig-Martin
“If you try to copy something exactly you won't get it correct, because you don't share the same tradition and context.” IfsTryingShareTraditionCopies Author:Michael Craig-Martin
“You can take things from the past, from the culture, from the immediate past and things that have not yet entered the culture, so they have no history yet. You can create your own context.” PastCulture Author:Michael Craig-Martin
“Often people do not properly value things that they are good at naturally because they find them too easy. That is very problematic.” PeopleValuesEasy Author:Michael Craig-Martin
“If I did not love the things that I do, how could I spend my life doing this? You have to invest what you spend your life doing with pleasure.” IfsPleasure Author:Michael Craig-Martin
“It is very important to develop the thing that you are naturally good at, that you are truly interested in.” Important Author:Michael Craig-Martin
“When I was a very young student I loved and admired the work of Sam Beckett, who is famously pessimistic, and whose writing is an extraordinary examination of emptiness. I wanted to be like Beckett. I don't have the same attitude toward the world, I'm naturally optimistic, and so of course I could never be like Beckett. You can't force yourself to become like someone you admire.” WorldWritingWantedYoungCoursesForceAttitudeStudentsExtraordinaryAdmireOptimisticEmptinessExaminationPessimisticBeckettYoung Students Author:Michael Craig-Martin
“The person you admire was true to himself. You can only truly honour him by being true to yourself.” PersonsAdmireBeing TrueHonourBe True To YourselfTrue To Yourself Author:Michael Craig-Martin
“You can't honour someone by copying them or trying to be exactly like them.” TryingHonourCopying Author:Michael Craig-Martin
“If you close the door to the things you feel comfortable with, you will never discover the truth about yourself.” IfsFeelsDoorsComfortableAbout Yourself Author:Michael Craig-Martin
“I thought the objects we value least because they were ubiquitous were actually the most extraordinary.” ValuesObjectsPerceptionOrdinaryExtraordinaryPainterUsualUbiquity Author:Michael Craig-Martin
