Exhibition: Anish Kapoor, Royal Academy of Arts, London, September 26 – December 11 2009
Anish Kapoor once said that artists make mythologies rather than objects. The sculptor cares about his audience, but confesses that "in the end, I make art for myself". "But I am, of course, very concerned with a work's content and the way in which meaning arises out of the encounter between body and object or non-object," he adds.
This retrospective emphasises Kapoor's ability to engage a mass audience or individual viewer on numerous levels, from the spiritual to the visceral.
Kapoor's 35-year career takes over five galleries. Johnny Shand-Kydd
Celebrating more than 35 years of the 55-year-old Royal Academician's work, it provides a dramatic visual and psychological diorama of a living British artist. It’s also the first occasion in 250 years that the RAA has devoted five major galleries to one artist.
Kapoor's monumental sculptural forms permeate physical and psychological space through colourful pigment sculptures, site-specific interventions and gigantic installations, making him an excellent box office attraction.
Shooting into the Corner (2008-2009). Mixed media. Wolfgang Woessner, courtesy the artist and MAK, Vienna
His latest UK public art project, Temenos, measures 50 by 110 metres, and will be positioned at Middlesbrough Dock as part of the £15 million Tees Valley Giants Regeneration scheme.
Unlike his contemporaries from the world of British sculpture, such as Bill Woodrow, Andrew Gormley, Alison Wilding and Shirazen Houshiary, Kapoor's work explores the polarities of post-colonialism, juxtaposing East and West, ancient and modern and sacred and secular through paradoxes, aestheticism and Hindu symbiology.
Yellow (1999). Fibreglass and pigment. Dave Morgan, Haus der Kunst, Munich, 2007-08
He remains proud of his Indian roots and spirituality, and many of his key works emanate otherworldly qualities.
Svayambahm, a gargantuan, moving block of blood red wax, moves slowly along the breadth of Burlington House via mechanical sunken rails and leaves in its trail a tide of red residue, bearing witness to continual, gradual change.
White Sand, Red Millet, Many Flowers (1982). Mixed media and pigment. Collection Arts Council, South Bank Centre, London
Shooting Into the Corner is a cannon which systematically shoots projectiles of red wax at 20-minute intervals, morphing throughout the three-month exhibition to form a critical mass.
Colour-saturated pigment pieces from the 1980s feature alongside new works and reflective stainless steel sculptures, referencing his Sky Mirrors in Chicago, New York, Nottingham and other cities.
(Left to right) Non Object (Door), Non Object (Pole), Vertigo (all 2008). Stainless steel. David Regen, courtesy the artist and Barbara Gladstone Gallery
Marsyas was shown as part of the Unilever series which occupied the Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern in 2002. The abstract qualities of Kunsthaus Bregenz's My Red Homeland are highlighted by their individual form and use of optics and physical interaction.
The triumphant final highlight is in the Annenberg Courtyard. Tall Tree and the Eye is a commissioned new sculpture made from 76 highly-polished, 15 metre-high steel spheres reflecting their surroundings.
Late night opening until 10pm Fridays (last admission 9.30pm). Admission £4-£12 (free for under-7s), call 020 7300 8000 or visit the RAA online box office.
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