“It feels like it’s got everything in it, but without necessarily making sense. Things fly in from left, right and centre. There are different ideas, turns of phrase, beautiful pieces of music, catchy bits, but it’s mysterious and I can’t understand it. It doesn’t add up.” This is Martin Creed talking about why he loves the music of the singer Bob Dylan in a 2014 article in the Guardian. It could easily be a description of the experience of entering a Martin Creed exhibition. Creed employs his talent across a multitude of mediums, from sculpture and video, to music composition and site-specific artworks, always managing to be both humorous and thoughtful. Those who pass Harris Museum and Art Gallery without bothering to enter will be able to experience the epic neon artwork Work No. 203 on the front of the Grade 1 listed building, a work in neon that states in text: Everything is going to be alright. Once inside Work No. 890 is on display, with another reassuring message in neon: Don’t Worry. Creed is probably best known for The Lights going on and off, for which he won the Turner Prize in 2001, and which is on display in this exhibition. Showing for the first time outside of London is Work No. 960, an installation of 13 cactus plants, together with Work No. 1340, a large scale painting of diagonal stripes applied directly onto the wall.
Sat 27 Jan- Sat 3 June, Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Market Square, Preston, PR1 2PP. Tel: 01772 258248, Mon 11am until 5pm, Tue to Sat 10am until 5pm, Sun 11am until 4pm, closed on bank holidays, FREE, www.harrismuseum.org.uk
Image: Work No 2316 (2015) ‘Coconuts’
- Words:
- Fran Blythe
- Published on:
- Sun 21 May 2017
