Anish Kapoor

CAFA Art Museum & Imperial Ancestral Temple

— Oct 26, 2019 by YIART

Internationally renowned British Indian sculpture artist Anish Kapoor will hold the first double solo exhibition in Beijing. The exhibition will be officially opened at the CAFA Art Museum on the 25th, and will continue until January first next year. Another part of the exhibition will be held at the Imperial Ancestral Temple on November 11th.

Anish Kapoor was born in Mumbai, India in 1954. His mother is Jewish and his father is a hydrographer of the Indian Navy. Most of his childhood was spent on the ocean. He was originally intended to be an engineer but not good in math, he changed the path and decided to become an artist. So, after living and working in London in 1973, he began his artistic path. He studied at the Hornsey College of Art in London and entered the Chelsea School of Art in 1978, but he suspends he's schooling after one year. He hesitated how to go on, and returned to India, the scenery of his homeland have rich in color and traditional culture that made him stimulated and produced the first major work, "1000 Names," which is also made him famous. "I was making objects that were about doing, about ritual." he said. Later, he was noticed by the director of Lisson Gallery, Nicholas Logsdail, who invited him to join the group of New British Sculptors, then he finds his feet in the art world. In 1990, he represented the British at the Venice Biennale and received the Premio Duemila Award and he won the Turner Prize in 1991. Other awards include the Oxford University Honorary Fellowship; the Praemium Imperiale of Japan Art Association; Commandeer of the Order of the British Empire; Honorary Fellowship, Royal Institute of British Architecture; Elected Royal Academician, Royal Academy of Arts and Honorary Fellowship of London Institute, etc.

Whether the appearance, materials, color or form, Anish Kapoor's work has a strong minimalist style, but he removes the visual impact of minimalist and changes it to a softer express. His sculptures, especially those of public artworks, have a simple geometric appearance, albeit huge, but elegant and striking the balance with the surrounding environment. Indian philosophy, ancient civilization, and Eastern and Western cultures, these elements incorporate in concepts when he creates works, combines its unique style with public space to present to the public. In the early years, due to the study of materials, he used to make sculptures with granite, marble and other stone materials, a single bright color, embellish the exhibition space, to explore the relationship between form and space. After 1995, he began to study high-reflective surfaces, thinking about space and time through stainless steel and mirrors. The famous work like "Sky Mirror" installed in Rockefeller Center, which weighs 23 tons of stainless steel sculpture and reflects the beautiful view of the sky of New York; "Cloud Gate" located in Millennium Park in Chicago, is also known as The Bean because of its appearance. This stainless steel bean reflects the lively of the park and the bustling of the city. By observing Anish Kapoor's work, people can reexamine everything around life in different forms, angles, and colors.

He has held many solo exhibitions at major international art galleries and institutions, include Museu Serralves, Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Roma, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Leeum Samsung Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Museum für angewandte Kunst, Deutsche Guggenheim, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

Anish Kapoor's work collected by many institutions include Art Institute of Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, Arts Council of Great Britain, British Council Collection, Fine Art Museum of San Francisco, Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Museum of Modern Art, Samsung Museum of Art, San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Tate Collection, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art and so on.

This exhibition's academic supervisor is Fan Di'an, who is President of Chian Artists Association and Director of CAFA Art Museum; the art director is served by Deputy Director of CAFA Art Museum Su Xinping; the chief curator is served by CAFAM Director Zhang Zikang; and also invited artists director of Serpentine Galleries, London, Hans Ulrich Obrist to be curatorial consultant. This time present Anish Kapoor's artistic creations for the past 35 years and bring the four most important works in his artistic career: The work "Symphony for a Beloved Sun," many large and small red wax blocks piled up with the fear. It will remind people of the tragic Holocaust of Jews and feel scalp numb. The work "Sectional Body preparing for Monadic Singularity," a black cube on a green meadow, the cube with huge horn made of red PVC. It looks like a part of the body organ is cut, it can be clear to see the blood vessels and tissues inside. The work "Destierro" is paved with 100 tons of earth sprayed with fresh red, and a blue excavator is placed in the center, with strong color contrast and scenes, telling the history of victims and refugees of the Argentine military regime massacre from 1976 to 1983. The work "My Red Homeland", a 12-meter circular platform with 20 tons of dark red wax mixed with Vaseline, a square iron block pushed by the electric arm from the center of the circle, slowly drawn round along the circumference, the deep track engraved on dark red wax, and the extra wax pushed to the edge. The dark red wax symbolizes his hometown of India, symbolizing his heart. The push of the iron block symbolizes his creation, he is an artist, in his homeland, in the heart, continuous creation of works of art.

Anish Kapoor

Date: 26 October 2019 – 1 January 2020

Venue: CAFA Art Museum & Imperial Ancestral Temple

Anish Kapoor

CAFA Art Museum & Imperial Ancestral Temple

— Oct 26, 2019 by YIART

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