Untitled (Shoes)

With its inscrutable simplicity and vivid planes of colour, Untitled (Shoes), 1996, exemplifies Michael Craig-Martin’s iconic graphic style. The artist transforms an unassuming pair of shoes into a surreal still life of blazing green and orange; these are brogues plucked from a technicolour dream. Craig-Martin began drawing everyday objects in the mid-1970s, and his compositions purposefully lack individualising details and contextual references. His practice probes the relationship between sign, language and object, which he exploits through his vibrant tones and simplified lines. In blurring the divide between mass culture and high art, these paintings are aligned with Pop Art discourses, funnelled through a conceptual lens. Describing how he selects his subject matter, the artist reflected, ‘I have always thought that access to everything important is right in front of your nose. We often look for the special in special objects or special events but actually, if we understood the quality of ordinary things, we are closer to the substance of life. I am speaking to you on my iPhone, a mass-produced object – everyone has one, but this one is mine. We imbue a sense of profound personal engagement to objects we see as ours’ (M. Craig-Martin, quoted in T. Adams, ‘Michael Craig-Martin: ‘I have always thought everything important is right in front of you’, The Guardian, 26 April 2015). By isolating his motifs against a monotone background, these quotidian objects – a coffee cup, an umbrella, a lightbulb – are endowed with a sense of the majestic. In his paintings, Craig-Martin creates a communication system whose logic remains a mystery; these shoes may appear recognisable, but they are ultimately enigmatic and impenetrable.