Work No.1273

Martin Creed (1968 - )

lithograph

2011

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© London 2012 / Martin Creed

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  • About the work
    Location
    Country: Japan
    City: Tokyo
    Place: British Embassy

    ‘Work No. 1273’ by Martin Creed is part of ‘London 2012’, a series of twelve limited edition posters commissioned from leading British contemporary artists to celebrate the Olympic Games in London. 


    A stack of colourful brushmarks in the official Olympics colours creates a deceptively simple but striking image in Martin Creed’s ‘Work No. 1273’. Resembling an extended podium, the colours are arranged in either ascending or descending order, depending on how you choose to look at it.  By depicting five instead of the usual three places of bronze, silver and gold, Creed’s image indicates respect for all those who take part, not just the top three. Since 1987, Creed has numbered each of his works, rather than use descriptive titles. By doing so, he hopes to express the theme of each work in a more direct fashion.


  • About the artist
    Martin Creed was born in Wakefield, Yorkshire. He studied at the Slade School of Art, London, since when he has exhibited his work widely around the world. Creed is perhaps best known for his controversial Turner Prize show at the Tate Gallery in 2001, the year that he won the Prize. His conceptual piece, ‘Work No. 227, the lights going on and off’ consisted of an empty room in which lights were periodically switched on and off. He followed this up in 2008 with ‘Work No. 850’, an installation at Tate Britain, in which a runner sprinted the length of the gallery’s neo-classical sculpture galleries every 30 seconds for four months. Recent solo exhibitions of Creed’s work include shows in Moscow, Edinburgh and London. He lives and works in London.
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    Subjects
    olympic games
    Materials & Techniques
    lithograph
  • Details
    Artist
    Martin Creed (1968 - )
    Title
    Work No.1273
    Portfolio Title
    London 2012
    Edition
    HDC 2/10
    Date
    2011
    Medium
    lithograph
    Dimensions
    height: 76.00 cm, width: 60.00 cm
    Acquisition
    Presented by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, October 2011
    Inscription
    verso lc: Martin Creed 2011 Work # 1273 HDC 2/10
    Provenance
    London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (gift)
    GAC number
    18422/1