Book Description:
Born in Bombay and based in London since the 1970s, Anish Kapoor (b. 1954) has been a vital force in contemporary art for over three decades. His work is hermetic but unmistakable, both for its striking abstract forms and for its distinctive use of materials, from the traditional (marble and bronze) to the high-tech (stainless steel and fibreglass). His sculptures, with their bold exploration of spatial and perceptual phenomena, elicit a powerful response that is as physical as it is visual. Marsyas, a massive PVC structure installed in Tate Modern's Turbine Hall in 2002, exemplified this effect, its plunging curves seeming to unmoor viewers' sense of gravity, triggering a sense of vertigo from below. His numerous polished steel sculptures, such as Iris (1998), achieve a similar feat through different means, turning the familiar - one's own body and the space around it - on its head. In its pursuit of the sublime and the spiritual, Kapoor's work updates an artistic lineage that spans from Abstract Expressionism to German Romantic painting and beyond. At the same time, his sustained exploration of the uncanny, centred on the morphology of the human body, gives his work its unique and timeless psychological depth. Kapoor has received numerous awards and distinctions, including the Turner Prize in 1991 and a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) in 2003. His work has been featured in solo exhibitions at major museums around the world, including Haus der Kunst in Munich, Musee des Beaux-Arts in Nantes and Tate Modern in London, as well as important international exhibitions, such as Documenta 9 in Kassel, Expo '92 in Seville and the 44th Venice Biennale, where he represented Great Britain. He is also responsible for some of the world's best known public sculptures, including Taratantara (1999, Gateshead and Naples) Sky Mirror (2001, Nottingham, and 2006, New York) and Cloud Gate (2004, Chicago).
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