An Oak Tree (1973) is Michael Craig-Martin’s most well-known artwork. In this work, Craig-Martin places a glass of water on a shelf and displays a text alongside it that argues what viewers see is in fact an oak tree. By deliberately declaring the impossible, Craig-Martin examines our understanding of art and the process of conceptual thinking.
Similar to the Catholic belief that bread and wine are converted into the body and blood of Christ while appearing physically as bread and wine, Craig-Martin uses An Oak Tree as an art object that requires a transformative vision to believe the glass of water could actually be an oak tree.
Craig-Martin is also known for his brightly coloured paintings of everyday objects like headphones, coffee cups, and umbrellas. Begun in 1981, these paintings present mundane objects out of context and out of scale, in colours that are often disconnected with the actual object’s appearance.
Craig-Martin’s paintings are reminiscent of pop art. Each painting features bold black outlines juxtaposed with intense blocks of colour to create powerfully simple compositions.
Of these paintings, Craig-Martin told Ocula Magazine, ‘My drawings are traditionally observational, each made by looking at a single object. I want my drawings to seem so obvious they “disappear” leaving only the object. ... I sought originally to make drawings that were styleless, but ironically they are now recognisable as my style.’
