Celebrated for his gigantic, stainless steel 'Cloud Gate' sculpture in Chicago’s Millennium Park, Anish Kapoor is changing the cultural environment with his public works.
Svayambh (2007)
Svayambh, meaning ‘self generated’, is a blood-red sculpture that slips between galleries Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nantes and Munich’s Haus der Kunst. It is styled to look like a train, though it is shaped by the doors it passes, leaving a waxy substance behind.
Tall Tree and the Eye (2009)
Tall Tree and the Eye is found outside Burlington House (London). It is Made of 76, 15 metre reflective steel spheres. Tall tree and the eye has no "message", as Kapoor wanted it to be left to the interpretation of the viewer.
Untitled, 1983
Untitled resides in the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York City. The sculpture consists of four forms in a diagonal row, unified by the same colour. It has a strange aesthetic of being organic and synthetic at the same time. ‘Untitled’ actually has a simular idea to Dan Arps work for the Walters Prize, in that there is a hint of symbolism and profoundness that is actually never explained. (Though Kapoor’s work is at least a million times better than Arps’.)
Kapoor has also made a work in New Zealand. “The Farm” (2009), is named after its location, sits in the hills of a 1000acre outdoor art gallery in Kaipara Bay. It stays true to his love of red, but is the first piece Kapoor has made out of fabric, so it could survive the Tasman winds.
“The Farm” is over 8 stories high consists of an ellipse, one side horizontal and one vertical, connected by a skinny waist.
The work has been made in tune with the land around it, in scale and shape. Due to the high winds, the work even ‘breathes’.
My favourite work by Kapoor is probably Tall Tree and the Eye. From the interviews that saw with Kapoor I noticed how incredibly smart he is, so the fact that this piece doesn’t have particular ideas to it makes it more interesting to me. I think it was the quote “What was palpable yesterday was the involvement and enjoyment of the visitors, who were intensely engaged with the sculptures, animated, curious, chatting to strangers.” (there will always be England blog) that won me over. I also find the dynamic of the reflective metal particularly beautiful.
REFERENCES
PRISCILLA, 19 NOVEMBER 2009 ‘Anish Kapoor’ retrieved 18th August 2010 from
Hello Laura~~~~~~
ReplyDeleteMy favorite work of Kapoor is 'Cloud Gate' sculpture in Chicago’s Millennium Park result from he proposed the idea of city skyline accuratly and incomplicatly for understanding by using murcury tone representing the millenium concept and bean shape which was renown by every audiences. Although it looks so simple but implicitly with creative idea. Hoeever, the "Tall Tree" is my favorits as well.~~~~
Hey Laura! one of my favorite works by Kapoor is the tall tree and the sky mirror. I think both these works are somewhat similar to each other, from the material and the 'distorted reflection' that Kapoor always aims for, he uses the same techniques, but just structured and displayed differently. I agree with your description of the metal that he uses 'the dynamic of the reflective metal is particularly beautiful', i think that he is really smart by using typical metal and transforming it into something abstract and spatial, it really is beautiful. I really support his works and will definitely consider him as one of my own personal influences regarding with my artworks! =)
ReplyDeleteI really Kapoor's works that using reflective materials like Tall Tree you mentioned about. By reading your post I could see how he explored with different materiality of different mediums. It is interesting to know. I think one of the reasons for his works are so renowned is because he really explores variety in shapes and materials. I really would want to see his work in Auckland. It would be nice to see in real. Did you see the his work called Turning the world upside down, Jerusalem, (2010)? This one is my favourite among his works. Its reflection is similar to Tall Tree but its reflection is more apparently upside down that reinforces the belief of heavenly Jerusalem.
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