Martin Creed

Martin Creed was born in Wakefield, England in 1968 and grew up in Glasgow. He lives and works in London and Alicudi, Italy. He has exhibited extensively worldwide, and in 2001 won the Turner Prize for ‘The lights going on and off’. Recent solo exhibitions and projects include ‘Mothers’, Hauser & Wirth London, Savile Row (2011); ‘Down Over Up’, Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh (2010); ‘Ballet Work No. 1020’, Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh (2010); ‘Things’, The Common Guild, Glasgow (2010); ‘Work No. 409’, Royal Festival Hall, London (2010); Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima (2009); Ikon Gallery, Birmingham (2008) and the Duveen Commission,Tate Britain, London (2008).

Words and music have always been an integral part of Creed’s practice. He has often combined visual art, talking, choreography and music with his band.

‘Martin Creed and his band’

Martin Creed - Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Lead Vocals
Keiko Owada - Bass Guitar, Vocals
Genevieve Murphy - Synthesizer, Vocals
Ben Kane - Drums
Rob Eagle - Video/Slideshow, Vocals

Creed formed a band, Owada, in 1994. In 1997 they released their first CD, Nothing, on David Cunningham's Piano label. In 2000 he published a recording of his songs under his own name with the arts publisher Art Metropole, in Toronto. In 2010 he provided the cover art for a Futuristic Retro Champions single, while supporting its launch with an appearance with his own band. In 2009 he wrote and choreographed ‘Ballet’, a show of music, dance and talk, produced by Sadler's Wells, London. In 2010 ‘Ballet’ was performed 8 days at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh as part of the Fringe. It comes to the main theatre at Sadler's Wells, London, on June 21st, 2011.

Martin Creed

Born in Wakefield, England, 1968

Slade School of Fine Art, London, England, 1986-1990
Lives and works in London, England

Solo Exhibitions (selection 2000-2011)

2011

MARCO, Museo de Arte Contemporánea, Vigo, Spain
Sala Alcalá 31, Madrid, Spain
Johnen Galerie Berlin, Germany
Hauser & Wirth, ‘Mothers’, London, England

2010

Moscow Museum of Modern Art, ‘Numbers’, Moscow, Russia
Southbank Centre, ‘Martin Creed: Work No. 409’ (Part of the Chorus Festival), London, England
Fruitmarket Gallery, ‘Down Over Up’, Edinburgh, Scotland
Traverse Theatre, ‘Ballet: Work No. 1020’ (Part of Edinburgh Festival), Edinburgh, Scotland

2009

Centre Pompidou-Metz, ‘Work No. 245’, Metz, France
Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, Japan (Travelling Exhibition)
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, ‘Work No. 975’, Edinburgh, Scotland

2008

Tate Britain, ‘Duveens Commission’, London, England
Gavin Brown's enterprise, New York NY

2007

Hessel Museum of Art and CCS Galleries, Bard College, ‘Feelings’, Annandale-on-Hudson NY
508 West 25th Street, ‘Small Things’, New York NY
Hauser & Wirth Coppermill, London, England
Abrons Art Center, ‘Martin Creed's Variety Show’, New York NY

2006

Curzon Mayfair, ‘Sick Film’, London, England
Fondazione Nicola Trussardi, ‘I like things’, Milan, Italy
Johnen Galerie, ‘Work No. 547’, Berlin, Germany
Haubrokshows, ‘The lights off’, Berlin, Germany
Tate Modern, ‘Martin Creed's Variety Show’, London, England

2005

Comptoir de Nylon, ‘The lights going on and off’, Brussels, Belgium
Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Netherlands
ACCA – Australian Center for Contemporary Art, ‘The lights off’, Melbourne, Australia

2004

Centre for Contemporary Art, Udjadowski Castle, ‘the whole world + the work = the whole world’, Warsaw, Poland
Centre for Contemporary Art, 'TWG@CCA', Kitakyushu, Japan

2003

Kunsthalle Bern, Berne, Switzerland
Frac Languedoc-Roussillon, ‘Beaucoup de bruit pour rien’ (with Marylene Negro), Montpellier, France ncia
Gavin Brown's enterprise, ‘Work No. 300’, New York NY
The British School, ‘Work No. 289’, Rome, Italy

2002

Alberto Peola Arte Contemporanea, ‘A large piece of furniture partially obstructing a door’, Turin, Italy
The Wrong Gallery, New York NY

2000

Kunst-Station Sankt Peters Kirche, ‘Work No. 252’, Cologne, Germany
Arte Continua, ‘Arte all' Arte’, San Gimignano, Italy
Tate Britain, ‘Art Now: Martin Creed’, London, England
Southampton City Art Gallery, ‘MARTINCREEDWORKS’, Southampton, England (Travelling Exhibition)
Times Square / 42nd Street, ‘Work No. 225’, New York NY
Tate Britain, ‘Work No. 232: the whole world + the work = the whole world’, London, England

Group Exhibitions (selection 2000-2011)

2011

54th Biennale di Venezia, ‘ILLUMInazione’, Venice, Italy (June 2011)
Museum Admont, ‘Sammler- LEIDENSCHAFT’, Brussels
Folkestone Triennial, ‘A million miles from home’, Kent, England
Singapore Biennale 2011 ‘Open House’, Singapore
Tate St. Ives, ‘Summer Collection Display’, Cornwall, England

2010

Minsheng Art Museum, ‘Other Rooms’, Shanghai, China
Palais de Tokyo, ‘FRESH HELL – Carte Blanche à Adam McEwen’, Paris, France
Queensland Art Gallery, ‘21st Century: Art in the First Decade’, Queensland, Australia
K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, ‘‘Silent Revolution’ – Eine neue Sammlungspräsentation’’, Dusseldorf, Germany
La Casa Encendida, ‘on&on’, Madrid, Spain

2009

MOMA - Museum of Modern Art, ‘Paper: Pressed, Stained, Slashed, Folded’, New York NY
MUHKA - Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst, ‘All That Is Solid Melts Into Air’, Antwerp, Belgium

2008

SUN Contemporary, ‘Platform Seoul’, Seoul, Korea
Kunsthalle Bern, ‘No leftovers’, Berne, Switzerland
Galeria Luisa Strina, ‘This is Not A Void’, São Paulo, Brazil

2007

Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, ‘The Future of Futurism’, Bergamo, Italy
Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, ‘Words Fail Me’, Detroit MI
Institute of Contemporary Art, ‘Ensemble’, Philadelphia PA
Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, ‘Silence: Listen to the Show’, Turin, Italy
Villa Arson, ‘Half square, half crazy’, Nice, France
Kunsthalle Bern, ‘Critical Mass - Kritische Masse’, Berne, Switzerland
MACRO - Museo d'Arte Contemporanea Roma, Rome, Italy
III Bienal de Jafre, Jafre del Ter, Spain

2006

P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center and MoMA – Museum of Modern Art, ‘Into Me / Out of Me’, Long Island, NY (Travelling Exhibition)
KW Institute for Contemporary Art, ‘Into Me/Out of Me’, Berlin, Germany (Travelling Exhibition)
4th Berlin Biennial for Contemporary Art, ‘Of Mice and Men’, Berlin, Germany
Centre Georges Pompidou, ‘Big Bang: Destruction and Creation in 20th Century Art’, Paris, France
Secession, ‘I (Ich) Performative Ontology’, Vienna, Austria
MARCO, Museo de Arte Contemporánea de Vigo, ‘The Invisible Show. Audio Works from the 20th Century’, Vigo, Spain / Centro José Guerrero, Granada, Spain
Schirn Kunsthalle, ‘Nichts’, Frankfurt, Germany

2005

K20 Kunstsammlung, ‘Ambiance – Des Deux Côtes du Rhin’, Dusseldorf, Germany
Casino Luxembourg – Forum d'Art Contemporain, ‘L'humanité mise à nu et l'art en frac. même’, Luxembourg
CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, ‘General Ideas: Rethinking Conceptual Art 1987-2005’, San Francisco CA
Biennale d'Art Contemporain de Lyon, ‘Expérience de la Durée’, Lyon, France
Printemps de Septembre, Toulouse, France

2004

ICA, ‘Artists' Favourites’ London, England
Serpentine Gallery, ‘State of Play’, London, England
Palais de Tokyo, ‘Live’, Paris, France

2003

Kunstverein Frankfurt, ‘Adorno’, Frankfurt, Germany
Kunstverein Salzburg, ‘Soundsystem’, Salzburg, Austria
Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, ‘Shine’, Rotterdam, Netherlands

2002

CCAC – California College of the Arts, ‘Rock my World: Recent Art and the Memory of Rock'n'Roll’, San Francisco CA
Charlottenborg, ‘My Head is on Fire but my Heart is Full of Love’, Copenhagen, Denmark
MOMA - Museum of Modern Art, ‘Tempo’, New York NY

2001

Tate Britain, ‘Turner Prize 2001’, London, England
Rooseum Center for Contemporary Art, ‘Rooseum Provisorium’, Malmo, Sweden
Museum of Contemporary Art, 'Art/Music: Rock, Pop, Techno', Sydney, Australia

2000

Whitechapel Art Gallery, ‘Protest and Survive’, London, England
Fondazione Pistoletto, ‘A casa di...’, Biella, Italy
Tate Britain, ‘Intelligence: New British Art 2000’, London, England
Contemporary Art Centre, ‘Proper’, Vilnius, Lithuania

Awards and Grants

2001

Turner Prize