Housework

© Michael Craig-Martin. Courtesy Gagosian Gallery. Image credit: Government Art Collection

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In this bold painting by Michael Craig-Martin, ordinary objects are depicted against a coloured background, neither touching nor overlapping one another. These discrete images appear unrelated to each other conceptually as well as compositionally: what exactly links a saucepan with a piano? The disparity of scale adds to our sense that the artist's choice of objects was arbitrary. Craig-Martin typically works with a restricted (but vivid) palette of colours and repertoire of images. He views his works as 'pictorial readymades', referring to the practice of elevating ordinary objects to the status of 'Art', simply by virtue of having been selected by the artist.

Government Art Collection

London

Title

Housework

Date

1997

Medium

acrylic on canvas

Measurements

H 198.5 x W 152.5 cm

Accession number

17308

Acquisition method

purchased from the Waddington Galleries, 1998

Work type

Painting

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Government Art Collection

Old Admiralty Building, Admiralty Place, London, Greater London SW1A 2BL England

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