ARTIST ROOMS Martin Creed celebrates one of this country's most ingenious, audacious and surprising artists. On display until 6 January 2024, the exhibition features sculpture, neon works, painting and video, presenting highlights from his thirty-year career.

Born in Yorkshire in 1968, and raised in Glasgow, Creed came to prominence in 2001 when he won the Turner prize with Work 227: The lights going on and off 2000, exhibiting an empty room in which the lights switch on and off at five-second intervals. Creed has gained international recognition for his distinctive approach to art – playful, thought-provoking, and deeply ambiguous.

Martin Creed is an artist, musician, composer and performer. He seeks to interact with the public, inviting them to engage with and interpret his work: ‘You can’t separate anything from people’s experience of it… so thinking about that got me into making a lot of work that is like a live event.’ From installation to film, painting to music and dance, Creed’s work is characterised by his subversive wit.

His multi-disciplinary practice draws on the everyday, transforming common materials and actions into surprising meditations on existence, choice and perception, and the invisible structures that shape our everyday experience. He has said ‘I’ve consciously tried to make my work more like music...rhythm, whether musical or visual, is a comfort.’

ARTIST ROOMS Martin Creed offers an insight into one of the most innovative artists working today.

ARTIST ROOMS presents the work of international artists in solo exhibitions drawn from a national touring collection jointly owned by National Galleries of Scotland and Tate. Its programme reaches audiences across the UK and is developed through local partnerships.

The ARTIST ROOMS programme and collection is managed by Tate and National Galleries of Scotland with the support of Art Fund, Henry Moore Foundation and using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and Creative Scotland.

Image credits:

Martin Creed
Work No. 890: Don't Worry 2008
ARTIST ROOMS National Galleries of Scotland and Tate
© Martin Creed. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2023. Photo © Tate

Martin Creed
Work No. 370 Balls 2004
National Galleries of Scotland
Purchased with the Iain Paul Fund and assistance from the Art Fund 2005
© Martin Creed. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2023. Photo © NGS (Antonia Reeve)

Martin Creed
Work No. 1102-5 2011
Work No. 1340 2012
ARTIST ROOMS National Galleries of Scotland and Tate
© Martin Creed. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2023. Photo © Tate