ART-PREVIEW:Anish Kapoor – dreamideamachine ART VIEW

Anish Kapoor’s work reflects upon metaphysical polarities including presence and absence, being and non-being, place and non-place and the solid and the intangible. The deep influence of Western and Eastern cultures resonate in his sculptures, Anish Kapoor received international acclaim for his novel use of a wide range of materials. By

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Lisson Gallery Archive

Anish Kapoor’s sculptures address his fascination with darkness and light in the translucent quality of the resin pieces, the opacity the pigments, the luminosity of alabaster and the elegant reflections of stainless steel. For his solo exhibition at Lisson Gallery in Milan, Anish Kapoor presents a new series of 14 stainless steel sculptures, the forms of which have been twisted through an unspecified number of degrees, never amounting to more than 90°. Shown together for the first time as an entire group, these small-scale, abstract works nevertheless contain different, recognisable footprints. These sculptures measuring 30cm are mounted on plinths, sharing space and interacting with one another, also they are accompanied by one larger twist (100cm), located on the terrace of the Gallery. The twist relies on the rotational pull around a central, vertical fulcrum to keep its outermost reaches within gravitational orbit. Indeed, every one of the twisted forms seems to be held just at the optimum moment, mid-spin. The highly polished surfaces of the twist sculptures create fleeting, fluid reflections that dissipate or disrupt any stable imagery, denying viewers the certainty of either the form’s pre-twisted state, which may also be symbolic, scientific or spiritual in origin – or their own, familiar and fixed likeness beaming back at them. The artist has referred to similar bodies of work as ‘non-objects’, when the internal geometry and perfectly reflective material carry the conditions of their own disappearance.

Info: Lisson Gallery, Via Zenale 3, Milan, Duration 14/5-22/7/16, Days & Hours: Mon-Fri 10:00-18:00, www.lissongallery.com