Space as Object
by Anish Kapoor
Material
Acryl; 93.9 x 93.9 x 93.9 cm
Dating
2001
About the artwork
If space were to be rendered in a three-dimensional object that encapsulates the physical world, Anish Kapoor’s sheer sculpture is the very embodiment of this concept. This illusion of space is a reflection of Eastern beliefs, as we are caught between the real world and the surreal realm. When thousands of modern art pieces fill our eyes with colors and forms, Kapoor takes us to the opposite plane, in the enigma of emptiness.
About the artist
Anish Kapoor was born in India in 1954 and moved to England in 1973. He is considered one of the most important sculptors alive. His art transcends the borders between painting and sculpture, his works take abstract expressionism to a form of spatialising art.
Kapoor is famous for his stone and plaster sculptures, with openings filled with colour pigments that create astounding spatial Op-Art effects. Time and again, like for example with his amorphous and porous ‘Fragments’, which are made of synthetic resin and soil, Kapoor explores the questions of what happens in the interstices of accidental production and design, form and formlessness, or what happens if surfaces become three-dimensional. Other works by Kapoor feature an almost strange metaphorical clarity, which is otherwise only present in Anselm Kiefer’s winged lead books. One of Kapoor’s works is entitled ‘Wound’ and shows a wound-like trace in the material. A surrealist convexity on a wall is called ‘When I am pregnant’.
In his works Kapoor addresses fundamental issues related to human existence, but also the tension between emptiness and presence, the material and the immaterial. His sculptures defy any narrative interpretation. His monumental installations enable the viewer to have an intense emotional and physical experience. This was also the case when he created
‘Marsyas’ in 2002, installing an enormous blood-red membrane in the turbine hall of the Tate Modern in London. The the sculpture strechtes over 120 metres, making it impossible to grasp it in its entirety.