Martin Creed is a playful, audacious and thought-provoking artist. Born in Yorkshire in 1986, and raised in Glasgow, Creed came to international prominence when he won the Turner Prize in 2001 with Work No. 227: The lights going on and off 2000, an empty room in which the lights switch on and off at five-second intervals.

As a visual artist, musician, composer and performer, his wide-ranging practice takes on a multitude of forms. He comments: ‘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.’ His work for the London 2012 Olympics, Work No. 1197: All the bells in a country rung as quickly and loudly as possible for three minutes 2012, involved mass participation on an unprecedented scale.

This exhibition features sculpture, neon, painting and video through which Creed explores ideas around rhythm, repetition and order, commenting: ‘I’ve consciously tried to make my work more like music...rhythm, whether musical or visual, is a comfort.’

Creed is renowned for his straightforward approach to making art, both in his use of non-traditional art materials and in the numerical titling of his work. Assigning a number to every artwork gives all his works equal status, regardless of size or material. His work is characterised by conceptual rigour, a deceptive simplicity and a subversive wit. It embodies a logic taken to (often humorous) extremes. Creed’s approach is to banish any concept of hierarchy between ‘things’ and ‘art’, to assert art and ordinary life as equal in every respect. He re-presents everyday materials, actions and feelings, framing them in familiar yet unexpected contexts. Through his work, Creed transforms the everyday into surprising meditations on existence, choice and perception.

ARTIST ROOMS presents the work of international artists in solo exhibitions, drawn from a national touring collection jointly owned by Tate and the National Galleries of Scotland. The programme is shown across the UK with the support of Art Fund, Henry Moore Foundation, Arts Council England and Creative Scotland and includes more than 40 major artists.

Image: Installation view of ARTIST ROOMS Martin Creed at Mercer Art Gallery

Martin Creed - talk and songs in Harrogate