The Park’s art collection has a new highlight: Rose, a monumental pink steel sculpture by celebrated British conceptual artist Michael Craig-Martin. Known for transforming everyday objects into bold, unforgettable icons, Craig-Martin turns a simple flower into a vivid statement piece. Part of his ongoing series exploring blooms in different media, Rose brings a burst of colour to the lobby — visible both inside The Park and to those strolling by outside.
“I have always thought everything important is right in front of you.” – Michael Craig-Martin
Michael Craig-Martin (b. 1941, Dublin) has built a career transforming the most familiar objects into striking explorations of perception and meaning. After moving to the United States as a child, he studied at Yale in the 1960s, alongside Brice Marden and Richard Serra, before settling in London. His groundbreaking An Oak Tree (1973) became a touchstone of British Conceptualism, revealing his enduring interest in semantics and transformation.
From the 1970s onward, Craig-Martin shifted from readymades to pictorial depictions of everyday objects — safety pins, chairs, light bulbs, laptops — rendered with precision and a distinctive, uninflected line. In the 1990s, he introduced intense, often discordant colour, expanding his practice across painting, printmaking, installation, and large-scale steel sculpture.
Also a revered teacher at Goldsmiths, where he influenced the Young British Artists, Craig-Martin was knighted in 2016 for his contributions to contemporary art.