Anish Kapoor

WHAT IF METROPOLIS
Anish Kapoor
Anish Kapoor (now Sir Anish Kapoor), born 12 March 1954, is a British sculptor. He was
born in Bombay and eventually moved to London in the early 1970’s to study art at the
Hornsey College of Art, and later went to the Chelsea School of Art and Design.

When he returned to India in 1979, he created a series of saturated pigments and

architectural forms such as one of his series called 1000 Names. This series consisted of
different arrangements of loose powdered pigments in abstract geometric forms that
flowed from the object to the floor or even up the wall.

His biomorphic sculptures (forms that evoke living forms such as humans, animals,
plants etc) became more recognised during the 80’s and 90’. His installations were
made from an array of materials such as stone, aluminium and resin that challenged
depth, gravity and perception. He created a installation called the Void Field show at the
Venice Biennale. This piece consisted of a grid of rough stand stone blocks with a
mysterious black hole in the middle. The following year, he won a Turner Prize.

Kapoor also worked on a piece that was commissioned for the 2012 London Olympics
called ArcelorMittal Orbit. This was a 115 metre tower surrounded by a looping lattice
of red tubular steel. Kapoor was also given a CBE in 2003 and named a Knight in 2013.
 About his work process
• Kapoor’s intention for some of his sculptures is to promote self reflection, so uses
mirrored surfaces to achieve this. He doesn’t want to present a prescriptive idea, but
wants to create an environment where people can consider the meaning for
themselves. His art works almost paradoxically with gravity and the space it resides
within.

• His public works raise the question of how the human presence impacts the natural
environment, so he seeks to create an interesting, yet respectful relationship between
the two.

• His work returns to the idea of origin by referencing the start of life. Kapoor does this by
creating vulva like holes and curves to illustrate pregnancy and keeps with the colour of
red to represent blood and the journey of birth you go through within your mother.

• What I love the most is Kapoor’s interest in infinity, endlessness and the void. He carves
out large spaces for us to reflect on the state of nothingness and to ultimately clear
ones mind. This is also emphasised by his use of black, much like the cosmos and an
abyss. This also signifies unpredictable experiences and limitless opportunity.
 Some of his famous pieces

Cloud Gate Descent into Limbo C-Curve Why Am I Pregnant?

ArcelorMittal Orbit Marsyas Turning the World Inside Out Descension Turning the World Upside Down
 Anish Kapoor Quotes
•“One does not set out with the idea that I've just had a great idea and now I'm going to go and
carry it out. Almost all art that's made like that doesn't go anywhere.”
•“What interests me is the sense of the darkness that we carry within us, the darkness that's akin
to one of the principal subjects of the sublime – terror.”
•““You can’t make art for other people. You can’t make art for an audience. I think the challenges
that one has as an artist are with one’s self… If it works me, it’ll work for you.”
•“Red is a colour I've felt very strongly about. Maybe red is a very Indian colour, maybe it's one of
those things that I grew up with and recognise at some other level.”
•“Much of what I make is geometric, and has a kind of almost mathematical logic to the form.”
•“The idea is that the object has a language unto itself.”
Quotes used from: https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/anish_kapoor