UNTITLED (GUN)
signed, titled, dated and dedicated for Karsten / Michael Craig Martin / Untitled (Gun) / 1997 on the reverse
acrylic on canvas
41 x 25.5cm; 16 x 10in
unframed

Property from the Estate of Karsten Schubert

Michael Craig-Martin depicts everyday items with a nuanced simplicity that exposes the tensions between objects and their representation. His work is distinguished by exceptional draftsmanship, vibrant colour, and uninflected line; intensely visual, it is rooted in an exploration of the relationships between perception, language, and meaning. In the mid-1990s Craig-Martin explored a range of quotidienne objects such as a pair of shoes, a coat hanger or an electric fan, but certain of his selected items from this period are emphatically more loaded such as handcuffs, or the present work (GUN).

Born in Dublin, Craig-Martin spent his formative years in the United States, where his family moved in 1946. During the 1960s, he earned a BA and MFA from Yale University School of Art and Architecture, studying alongside Jennifer Bartlett, Brice Marden and Richard Serra (see lot 57). Returning to the United Kingdom in 1966, in 1972 he participated in The New Art, a landmark exhibition of Conceptual art at the Hayward Gallery, London.

At Goldsmiths, University of London, where he taught from 1974 to 1988 and from 1994 to 2000, he profoundly influenced a generation of students, including Damien Hirst and Sarah Lucas. Craig-Martin was awarded a CBE in 2000 and Knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2016.

Property from the Estate of Karsten Schubert (lots 53 & 54)

Introduction
Born in Berlin, Karsten Schubert (1961-2019) was a pioneer on the 1980’s London Art scene, opening doors of opportunity to many artists who were associated with the Young British Artist movement (YBAs). He began his career at the Lisson Gallery which, in the early 80’s, was one of the very few London galleries offering space to young undiscovered artistic talent. Inspired to create his own forum for a new generation of art, Karsten sought investment from dealer Richard Salmon, and at the age of 25 established a gallery on Charlotte Street, Fitzrovia.

His first exhibition featured the work of Alison Wilding and, following on from Damien Hirst’s Freeze show of 1988, he began representing Goldsmith graduates Gary Hume, Michael Landy and Ian Davenport. Karsten typically gave his artists free reign to create as they pleased. In 1992 the exhibition Closing Down saw artist Michael Landy fill shopping trolleys with cheap tat emblazoned with banners: ‘Cor What a Bargain’ and ‘Everything Must Go.’ Equally as outlandish was Anya Gallacio’s project in which she covered the gallery interior with chocolate. Although groundbreaking and inspiring these exhibitions were ultimately uncommercial, Karsten was obliged to relocate to smaller premises on Foley Street and a number of his protégés left him for other representation in London’s popular West End.

In 1995, Karsten turned his attention to publishing. Teaming up with Thomas Dane and Charles Asprey, he established Ridinghouse Editions focusing on prints. Later in his career, his literary focus shifted to more academic endeavours and Ridinghouse became a publisher of art history and theory including a number of artist monographs. Karsten's artistic focus also shifted and he concentrated on the works of the likes of Bridget Riley and Tess Jaray from his Lexington Street Gallery in Soho.

Loved and admired in the London art world and beyond, in 2015, Schubert was diagnosed with a rare form of thyroid cancer. While recovering from surgery in a suite at Claridge’s, London (his hotel bill was met by two friends) he wrote a semi-autobiographical book, Room 225-6: A Novel. The book was published by Ridinghouse, with the proceeds going towards research into robotic surgery.