Project List

• January

  Work No. 845 (THINGS), 2007
  Multicolored neon
  Collection of Toby Webster, Glasgow, Scotland

  Work No. 845 (THINGS)—the first artwork by Martin Creed to be installed at MCA Chicago this year—makes a simple statement using one ordinary word. (THINGS) sets the tone for Creed’s subsequent interventions, which will appear throughout the building and the city each month of 2012 as part of the artist’s residency.

• February

  Work No. 405 Ships coming in, 2005
  2 synchronized videos; Mini DV, colour, sound
  8 minutes, 30 seconds
  Edition of 1 + 1 AP
  Courtesy of the artist and Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York

  In the double-stacked video installation Work No. 405: Ships Coming In, documentation of a ship leaving and returning to port offers visual manifestation of a cliché about waiting and anticipation.

• March

  Work No. 916, 2008
  Nine cardboard boxes
  Courtesy of the artist and Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York

  The nine cardboard boxes in Work No. 916 are stacked on top of each other from largest to smallest to form a tower. The brand markings on the boxes indicate their original contents—various purchases ranging from a television to bottled water.

• April

  Work No. 798, 2007
  Emulsion on wall
  Courtesy of the artist and Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York

  Work No. 1349, 2012
  Emulsion on wall
  Courtesy of the artist and Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York

  Creed’s paintings, whether they fill a small canvas or, as with Work No. 798 and Work No. 1349, a monumental wall, are often the result of predetermined logic or a few simple rules. The two large-scale paintings that cover the walls in the MCA’s lobby—one of them conceived specifically for this site—each comprise a repeating pattern in a single bold color.

• May

  Work No. 1355, 2012
  Nails
  Courtesy of the artist and Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York

  In Work No. 1355, 12 nails of varying sizes extrude from the wall, evenly spaced in a line. Basic building materials like these nails are not usually visible, in keeping with their purpose, but in this work the nails appear half-exposed, progressing from largest to smallest.

• June

  Work No. 792, 2007
  Lego
  Collection of Honus Tandijono

  Work No. 792 is built from everyday materials—a set of widely available toy Lego blocks—and is strongly in keeping with Creed’s interest in formal structure. Here at the MCA, the sculpture acts as a homage to the skyscraper, a symbol of modern development and a notable presence in Chicago’s skyline.

• July

  Work No. 1351, 2012
  Emulsion on wall
  Courtesy of the artist and Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York

  Creed’s paintings are often the result of predetermined logic or a few simple rules. Like the paintings that cover the walls in the MCA’s Kovler Atrium lobby around the corner, Work No. 1351 in Puck’s café is the result of a basic pattern and a playful but systematic use of color.

• August

  Work No. 1357, MOTHERS, 2012
  White neon, steel
  Courtesy of the artist and Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York

  This large neon sculpture by Martin Creed continues MCA Chicago’s commitment to blurring the lines between the inside and outside of the museum. Creed often uses language in his work, spelling out unassuming words or common phrases. As the word MOTHERS spins above the MCA plaza, it becomes a glowing presence that is both celebratory and imposing. The sculpture has to be large, Creed says, “because mothers always have to be bigger than you are” and because “it feels like mothers are the most important people in the world.”

  This work is jointly presented as the MCA Chicago Plaza Project for 2012.

• September

  Work No. 1190, Half the air in a given space, 2011
  Gold balloons
  Courtesy of the artist and Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York

  Work No. 210, Half the air in a given space, 1999
  White balloons
  Private Collection, Vienna, Austria

  Work No. 268, Half the air in a given space, 2000
  Black balloons
  Collection of Karen and Andy Stillpass

  Work No. 204, Half the air in a given space, 1999
  Red balloons
  Collection of Amy Hokin and Thomas Hokin

  For this site-specific installation, Creed fills half the space of a room with balloons, giving tangible form to something that’s usually invisible: the air around you. This lively artwork is meant to be enjoyed as you walk through it and not just viewed from outside. In Chicago, the artist has installed four versions of this work in different neighborhoods throughout the city, choosing a different color balloon for each site to give the installations their own feeling.

  See Half the air in a given space at any of the following locations:

  • Hyde Park Art Center
    Sep 7–Oct 2
  • Garfield Park Conservatory
    Sep 11–Oct 15
  • Storefront at 1113 Bryn Mawr in Edgewater
    Sep 18–Oct 18
  • City Gallery in the Historic Water Tower
    Oct 2–25

  During periods of inclement weather, such as rain, the City Gallery in the Historic Water Tower may be closed. Closed on Columbus Day.

  View locations in a larger map.

  This project is organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and presented in collaboration with the Hyde Park Art Center, Garfield Park Conservatory, City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, and Edgewater Development Corporation.

• October

  Work No. 960, 2008
  Cactus plants
  Courtesy of the artist and Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York

  In his works Martin Creed often uses ordinary objects, arranging them in eye-catching yet rigorous ways. Work No. 960 is a straight line of thirteen cacti from different species. Each plant is incrementally taller than the last, with the largest one rising above your head.

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  Work No. 190, A crumpled ball of paper in every room in a house, 1995
  Letter-sized paper
  Collection of Karen and Andy Stillpass

  Work No. 190 was previously realized in a private home, where a crumpled paper ball appeared in each and every room. Reappearing at the MCA in every room that is open to the public, these paper balls play with notions of art as a valuable object and subtly disrupt the usual order of the space.

• November

  Work No. 1020 (Ballet), 2009
  Theater show including ballet, talk, and music

  Fortified with a generous sense of humor, Martin Creed reevaluates the status of art in this virtuosic mash up of music and movement. For this performance, his first ballet, Creed plays lead guitar with his London-based band, joined by dancers from the original Sadler’s Wells production. Creed’s challenge—to compose a work using only the five core positions of classical ballet, each paired with a musical note—creates the conditions for a intriguing collision of structure and spontaneity. For more information and tickets, visit the event page.

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  Work No. 1376, 2012
  Acrylic on canvas
  Courtesy of the artist and Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York

  Work No. 1377, 2012
  Acrylic on canvas
  Courtesy of the artist and Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York

  Work No. 1378, 2012
  Acrylic on canvas
  Courtesy of the artist and Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York

  Work No. 1379, 2012
  Acrylic on canvas
  Courtesy of the artist and Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York

  Work No. 1381, 2012
  Acrylic on canvas
  Courtesy of the artist and Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York

  Work No. 1382, 2012
  Acrylic on paper
  Courtesy of the artist and Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York

  Work No. 1385, 2012
  Acrylic on paper
  Courtesy of the artist and Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York

  Work No. 1386, 2012
  Acrylic on paper
  Courtesy of the artist and Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York

  Creed produced the eight small canvases on view in the MCA lobby and Puck’s café while leading a painting workshop with students from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. These works result from a series of exercises, which included using chance operations, painting portraits without looking at the canvas, and establishing certain procedures to play with structure and color.

• December

  Work No. 189, Thirty Nine metronomes beating time, one at every speed, 1998
  Mechanical metronomes
  Courtesy of the artist and Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York

  Martin Creed is as interested in sound and music as he is in visual art. Both a sculptural installation and a source of sound, Work No. 189 consists of 39 metronomes set to a different tempo or speed, one for every setting the device offers. Assembled like a chorus, the metronomes produces a percussive piece of music while also marking out time. As the final work in the artist’s residency project, this group of objects counts down the remaining moments of Creed’s presence in the museum.