ART-PRESENTATION: Anish Kapoor
Anish Kapoor is one of a generation of British-based sculptors who became established in the International Art Scene during the ‘80s and is prominent among his contemporaries for the quality of hermetic lyricism that permeates his work. He is known for his use of abstract biomorphic forms and his penchant for rich colours and polished surfaces. He is also the first living artist to be given a solo show at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.
By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: SCAI THE BATHHOUSE & Gagosian Gallery Archive
Two solo exhibitions of Anish Kapoor are on presentation in Asia, the artist uses a truly wide variety of materials in his work, including stainless steel, marble, wax, silicone and concrete. The works at SCAI THE BATHHOUSE present us with the void space that Kapoor has returned to so often, monochrome and mirrored works that absorb and reflect the viewer create new spaces that rather than visually thrusting the art upon you, draw you in. Sculptures in which darkness stretches on limitlessly, and mirrored spheres convey a sense of infinite expansion and distortion of space, creating an exhibition that can be viewed almost as if it was making astronomical observations. Also exhibited are drawings – abstract images, on long, narrow Japanese washi paper that resonate with the sculptures. An installation of six 1:20 scale architectural models, “Void Pavilions”, presents an architectural realization of what Kapoor has called “Non object space”. For his first solo exhibition with the Gagosian Gallery and his first in Hong Kong, curved mirrors of stainless steel and aluminum, mounted on the wall or free-standing, distort the viewer’s reflection and unsettle, or even liquefy, the slabs of carved stone that rest solidly on the floor. “Gossamer” (2015), a large piece of pink onyx finely carved into a stretched ellipse, the inward-curving hole at the center creates the illusion of a deepening void. In a display of material mastery, Kapoor generates the same sensation in surfaces as disparate as cloudy gray alabaster and dazzling fiberglass and gold. Whether encountering the dark seams of Kapoor’s forms folding in on themselves, or, as is with “Vertigo” (2006), one’s own reflection is multiplied within a warped architecture, there is a consistent sense of having entered a space that is at once natural, artificial, and alchemical.
Info: SCAI THE BATHHOUSE, Kashiwayu-Ato, 6-1-23 Yanaka, Taito-ku, Tokyo, Duration: 9/9-15/10/16, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 12:00-18:00, www.scaithebathhouse.com and Gagosian Gallery, 7/F Pedder Building, 12 Pedder Street, Central, Hong Kong, Duration 12/9-5/11/16, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 11:00-19:00, www.gagosian.com
