“I had my exhibition of paintings first in Shanghai, and then recently in Wuhan. Wuhan particularly interested me, because I am 1/8 Chinese.” FirstsPaintingChineseExhibitionsShanghai Author:Michael Craig-Martin
“When I was invited to go to Wuhan, I didn't know anything about it, so I looked up the Wikipedia about Wuhan. I discovered that part of Wuhan used to be Hankou, and then I realised that my great grandmother came from Hankou. My grandmother and father were both born in Hankou. Of all the places in China, it is the most amazing place to have asked for my exhibition. I needed to go back where my family comes from!” KnowsUsedFatherBornNeededMy FamilyChinaUsed To BeGrandmotherMy GrandmotherInvitedRealisedMother And FatherMost AmazingExhibitionsWikipediaGreat GrandmotherAmazing Places Author:Michael Craig-Martin
“For many years I hoped to have an exhibition in China, because of my family connection.” YearsMy FamilyConnectionsChinaExhibitionsFamily Connections Author:Michael Craig-Martin
“There was something really wonderful about being able to feel confident about doing my first exhibition in China, that people would have no trouble recognising the images and understanding my work. I also have a lot of freedom in the way I use colour, and I think that kind of freedom in colour is also understandable in every culture.” PeopleThinkingWayFeelsFirstsKindUseAbleCultureUnderstandingWonderfulTroubleChinaColourExhibitions Author:Michael Craig-Martin
“I think that the exchange is very important. Before I did the exhibition in Shanghai, I was a judge for the John Moores Painting Prize and that was very interesting for me, because some of the judges are Chinese and some are British, and we look at the work together. It was fascinating that most of the time we were in complete agreement, but some of the time we were not. People send their works from all over China. For a foreigner, this gave me a very good picture about what is happening in China and its art today.” PeopleThinkingLooksArtImportantTodayTogetherInterestingPaintingJudgingHappeningsVery GoodChinaBritishChineseFascinatingAgreementWorking TogetherPrizeVery InterestingForeignersExhibitionsShanghai Author:Michael Craig-Martin
“The first exhibition that I used bright colours in painting the room was at a gallery in Paris, and there were seven rooms in the gallery. It was very nice gallery, not very big rooms, around the courtyard, it was a very French space. So I painted each room in different colour. When people came to the exhibition, I saw they came with a smile. Everybody smiles - this is something I never saw in my work before.” PeopleFirstsDifferentBigsUsedSpaceRoomsSawsNicePaintingSevenParisColourGalleryVery NiceExhibitionsDifferent Colours Author:Michael Craig-Martin
“The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition is very difficult to hang because it is so large and the quality is very varied. There are 1,200 works, an almost impossible number, some are interesting and some are not.” DifficultInterestingNumbersQualityImpossibleSummerRoyalAcademyExhibitions Author:Michael Craig-Martin
“Usually when I go to the Summer Exhibition, I think every room is too much the same, and I loose my capacity to look at individual works.” ThinkingLooksIndividualRoomsToo MuchSummerCapacityExhibitionsIndividual Work 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
“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
