Michael Craig-Martin

Untitled (Violet)

During the 1990s the focus of Michael Craig-Martin’s work shifted decisively to painting, marked by boldly outlined motifs and luridly vivid color schemes in unexpected (and at times apparently arbitrary) combinations applied both to works on canvas, and to increasingly complex painting installations. Untitled (Violet) is a later painting on paper depicting the outlines of a sports cleat, a wine glass, a fork, and a Moka pot layered on top of one another. The superimposition of the images flattens the picture plane entirely, making it difficult to decipher where the outline of one image ends and another begins. Formally, the painting reflects Craig-Martin’s signature graphic style. However, in this work, the artist limits his palette to just two tones of cool and warm violet, whereas many of his paintings use varying combinations of colorful hues. The contradiction of warm and cool purples in this painting renders an almost glowing quality to the imagery, as if it were a neon sign advertising the objects it depicts. As with many of his paintings, the collection of objects in this work are at once ubiquitous and culturally significant to varying degrees, carrying meanings and implications as discrete objects, as well as tensions informed by the relationships between these objects. Ultimately, Craig-Martin’s painting is an examination of perception, representation, and meaning.