Cragg grew up in humble circumstances. After graduating from high school, he earned his living as a laboratory technician for the National Research Association from 1966 to 1968. He then began studying art in Cheltenham from 1969 to 1970. He then attended the Wimbledon School of Art. His first artistic works were explorations of space in the spirit of land art. Cragg's art was characterized by found, simple materials and their transience. From the mid-1970s onward, the first floor and wall sculptures were created in which the artist varied the principles of stacking and combining smaller parts into large forms.

Cragg continued his early sculptural work by stretching nets of knotted cords over everyday objects. His acquaintance with the conceptual artist Richard Long influenced his work during this time. Between 1973 and 1977 he completed his training at the Royal College of Art in London. In the same year, 1977, he began exhibiting. At the same time he settled in Wuppertal, Germany. From 1979 he taught at the Düsseldorf Art Academy. His work soon received international attention. His colorful plastic assemblages became famous. He consciously confronted the negative image of the material. For Cragg, "plastic" served as a contemporary signifier.

In 1982 and 1987 he took part in the Documenta and in 1986 and 1993 in the Venice Biennale. In 1988 he was awarded the Turner Prize and appointed professor at the Düsseldorf Art Academy. In 1994 he became a member of the Royal Academy of Arts, London. From 2001 to 2006 he also taught as a professor of sculpture at the Berlin University of the Arts. In 2002 he became a member of the Academy of Arts, Berlin. Cragg was further elevated to the rank of Commander of the British Empire (CBE). In 2006, Cragg acquired the listed Villa Waldfrieden in Wuppertal with an adjoining 15-hectare park property, the former residence of Kurt Herberts. After extensive renovation and reforestation of the complex, a sculpture garden with changing exhibits by various artists was created here in 2008 in the form of a museum.

After Prof. Marcus Lüpertz retired as rector of the Düsseldorf Art Academy, Tony Cragg was elected as his successor in 2009.

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Tony Cragg

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