Martin Creed

25 April – 7 June 2026

Menorca

Dates

25 April – 7 June 2026

Location

Menorca Directions

Materials

Press Release

Artwork Inquiry

This spring Hauser & Wirth Menorca opens for a new season with a special presentation by Martin Creed. The exhibition brings together Creed’s ‘Work No. 3891: Half the air in a given space’ and a selection of wall paintings.

‘Half the air in a given space’ is one of Creed’s most celebrated works. First conceived in 1998 and subsequently created around the world, it involves a multitude of balloons which contain half of the air in a room. Acting as a tangible measure of the air, this playful inversion of art and space invites visitors to enter and change the work themselves. It is a sculpture which takes the shape of the space between people and things, joining them together in the shared space.

Like his balloons, Creed’s wall paintings fill half of the space they occupy, so that there is ‘a balance between the work and the world.’ Joyfully colourful, these paintings form decorative motifs which respond to the details of the architecture and further illustrate Creed’s belief that work must be sensitive to its environment because it is always inseparable from it. John Donnes famous sermon, learned by Creed at school, comes to mind: ‘No man is an island entire of itself.’

Both ‘Half the air in a given space’ and Creed’s wall paintings challenge traditional ideas of art. As Creed says, ‘There is no art. The art is in the people. You always have to include people in it, because in the end it is just a background to people and their funny ways.’

The gallery will be activated through a wide-reaching public program including learning resources, events and educational visits which will continue throughout the school season. Through a series of creative interventions, audiences will develop a first-hand understanding of how Creed constructs his work, breaking down the boundaries between looking at and becoming a living part of the artwork itself.

About the artist

Martin Creed is a Turner Prize-winning visual artist, performer, composer and ‘punk poet.’ For Creed, there is no border between life and art. In the process of, in his words, ‘trying to live life better’, his playful and open-ended approach leads to the use of many different forms of expression across many disciplines. With the application of rigorous logic his works are developed to a point of sublime absurdity.

Major solo exhibitions and projects include: ‘Martin Creed. I Don’t Know What Art Is’, Museum für Konkrete Kunst, Ingoldstadt, Germany (2023); ‘AMIGOS,’ Centro Botín, Santander, Spain (2019); ‘ARTIST ROOMS: Martin Creed,’ Tate Britain, London, UK (2018); ‘SAY CHEESE!’ Museum Voorlinden, Wassenaar, Netherlands (2017); ‘Martin Creed,’ Galerie im Taxispalais, Innsbruck, Austria (2017); ‘Work No. 2630: UNDERSTANDING,’ Brooklyn Bridge Park, New York NY (2016); ‘Martin Creed. The Back Door,’ Park Avenue Armory, New York NY (2016); ‘Martin Creed. What’s the point of it?,’ Hayward Gallery, London, UK (2014); The Warhol, Pittsburgh PA (2013); ‘Work No. 202,’ National Gallery of Canada, Ottowa, Canada (2012); Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago IL (2012); ‘Work No. 1059,’ The Scotsman Steps, Edinburgh, UK (2011); Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas TX (2011); ‘Things,’ The Common Guild, Glasgow, UK (2010); ‘Woråk No. 409,’ Royal Festival Hall Elevator, London, UK (2010); ‘Work No. 245', Centre Pompidou-Metz, Metz, France (2009); Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, Japan (2009); and the Duveen’s Commission, Tate Britain, London, UK (2008).

Creed’s monument to ‘WATER, Work No. 3667,’ was on view in Menorca in 2022, when the artist also presented an evening of words and music.

‘It’s just a normal situation. As usual, the space is full of air, but half of it is inside balloons.’

Martin Creed

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^{Installation views, ‘Martin Creed,’ Hauser & Wirth Menorca, 2026 © Martin Creed, VEGAP, Illes Balears, 2026. Photo: Daniel Schäfer}

About the Artist

Martin Creed

‘Creed is a social artist; the true magic of his work lies in the way it interacts with people and places.’

_{—Jonathan Jones, ‘Martin Creed’s stairway to heaven,’ in}_{The Guardian}_{, London, UK, 1 August 2011, ill. (on Work No. 1059)}

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