Since 1912, each Olympic host city has commissioned one or more posters to celebrate the hosting of the Games and since the first Paralympic games was held at Stoke Mandeville, posters have also been commissioned for the Paralympic games. The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has sought to return to this artistic tradition, and has commissioned twelve of the UK’s leading artists to create images to celebrate London hosting the 2012 Games, six for the Olympic Games and six for the Paralympic Games.

The primary criterion was artistic excellence and some of the UK’s greatest artists have been commissioned (four of the chosen artists have previously won the Turner Prize and five have represented the UK at the Venice Biennale). Each image is a distinct interpretation of either the Olympic or Paralympic Games by the individual artists and the diversity of the series demonstrates the extraordinary creative talent that exists within the UK.

At this UK Now@UCCA Talk, it's a great honor to have Mr. Michael Craig-Martin here today, whom is one of twelve of the UK's leading artists to create images to celebrate London hosting the 2012 Games. He will share with us his story of artistic creativity and the Olympic Games. Elucidating how art can convey and transport the spirit of the world’s foremost sporting event through a poster.

*Reservations required.
Please make reservation in advance. Kindly noted that you can only book 1 seat at a time. Call 010-57800200 on 9th May-15th May, 1100-1800 (Reservation service not available on Monday).
Members can also book by emailing: members@159.138.20.147 (Email bookings are reserved for UCCA members only.)

Guests:

Michael Craig-Martin (artist)
David Elliott (arts director, Cultural and Education Section of the British Embassy)

Michael Craig-Martin was born in Dublin, Ireland and from 1939-45 lived in London and Wales. In 1945 his family relocated to Washington D.C. In 1961 he studied painting at Yale University and returned a year later as a post-graduate student. He then returned to London where he continues to live and work. His early work drew together a variety of everyday objects and materials exploring the nature of art and representation. Craig-Martin’s now familiar style consists of crisp outlines of his signature objects varying in media from large scale wall installations made using crepe tape, neon, paint, site specific environments and, most recently, computer animations. Craig-Martin is also highly regarded for his influential teaching and his thinking is widely credited as the formative grounding for many young British artists, whose work defined British art of the 1990s such as Damien Hirst, Gary Hume and Sarah Lucas. He has also curated many exhibitions including Drawing the Line in 1995, and the British Council show Passports in 2009, both shown at Whitechapel Gallery. He represented Britain at the Sao Paulo Bienal in 1998 and was made CBE in 2001.

Partner: Cultural and Education Section of the British Embassy

UK Now is the largest ever festival of British arts and creative industries to take place in China. Coinciding with the London Olympics and the 40th anniversary of China-UK Ambassadorial relations, the Festival will bring British and Chinese arts institutions, artists and art lovers closer together. In collaboration with British Council, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA) will present a series of art experience events in music, architecture, design, visual art, dance, literature and film. This talk is one of the events of UK Now.