Artist Research Antony Gormley
I have a very close friend who lives in Southport, U.K. When I visited in 2012, we took a cab to Crosby Beach because she wanted to show me the Anton Gormley instillation that had been put there in 2005. We arrived as the tide was going out. What a magical moment to see these figures appear as the water receded. It was a misty morning and there were only a handful of people on the beach. Suddenly on the horizon, loomed an army of iron men. I walked around and checked some out. Some were still out in deeper water, others, closer to the beach. It was so fascinating to see the affects of time on the different statues. I also thought ”How brave for this man to cast his naked body for the world to see.” Limp penis and all. I also got to get a real good close up look on how the pieces were cast and joined.
- Born August 1950 London UK
- Attended Saint Martins School of Art 1974
- Completed studies with a postgraduate course in sculpture at the Slade School of Fine Art between 1977-1979
- Career began with a solo exhibition at The Whitechapel Art Gallery 1981
- uses own body to make castings.
- attempts to treat the body as a place, not just an object. Some of his works are:
- Another Place 1997. 100 cast iron figures spread for 2 miles on Crosby Beach.
- Angel of the North 1998. large winged sculpture Gateshed
- Asian Field, 2006. Instillation of 180,000 small clay figurines
- Event Horizon, 2007. 31 casts of his body displayed on London’s South Bank
- 2012 makes ’digital cubism” sculptures. The human body is rendered down into solid steel cubes.
- Expansion Field 2014. 60 large steel figures shown in Bern.
- Land 2015. Five life sized figures placed in the centre, and four compass points of the UK.
- Stay 2015. Identical cast iron human forms in Christchurch, New Zealand
- Sight 2019. Delos Island Site specific exhibition
