Martin Firrell

Martin Firrell
Photographic self-portrait, August 2016
Born (1963-04-04) 4 April 1963 (age 61)
Paris, France
NationalityBritish
Known forText-based art in public space
Notable workThe Question Mark Inside, St Paul's Cathedral; Complete Hero, with the Household Division of the British Army
Stylepolitical, protest and humanist art
SpouseMoon Laramie (2013 – present)
Websitewww.martinfirrell.com
Public art by Martin Firrell, new colour theory based on Goethe's Theory of Colours and the writings of Rudolf Steiner
Martin Firrell public art A Moral Idea (with Clare Short) Digital Billboards, UK 2019.
Martin Firrell public art Power and Gender (with Inga Beale) Digital Billboards, UK 2019
Martin Firrell public art text 'Remember 1967', Digital Billboards, London. Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Sexual Offences Act in England and Wales. Billboards re-present the demands of activists from the 1960s that still warrant attention in the present day (detail)

Martin Firrell (born 4 April 1963)[1] is a British public artist.[2]

Firrell uses language to engage directly with the public, provoking dialogue, usually about aspects of marginalisation, equality and equitable social organisation. The artist's reported aim is 'making the world more humane'.[3]

He is one of a trio of artists (with Jenny Holzer and Barbara Kruger) known for socially engaged public art practice where text is foundational and central to that practice.[4]

His work has been summarised as "art as debate".[5]

  1. ^ Creative Review, "One to Watch". London: Centaur Publishing, 2005, Vol. 25, Issue 1, p. 18.
  2. ^ "Alex Hudson, BBC News". 21 October 2009. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  3. ^ '"The Art of Protest". Robert Klanten, Lincoln Dexter, Andrea Servert (editors). Berlin: Gestalten, 2021, p. 12.
  4. ^ '"First You Write a Sentence". Joe Moran. London: Penguin Viking, 2018, p. 37.
  5. ^ "Public artist Martin Firrell presents It Ends Here - a new installation, Creative Review". London. 7 July 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2014.