(Above) Antony Gormley, Critical Mass (detail). Image © Nigel Green
Exhibition: Antony Gormley – Critical Mass, De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea - extended until September 26 2010
Approaching De La Warr Pavilion, that dark figure on the roof could only be one of Antony Gormley's. But then the silhouette moves away and turns out to have been a visitor.
Lifesize body casts have become synonymous with the British sculptor, and the piece in East Sussex does indeed have many. Sixty of them are scattered on the sun terrace.
Yet unlike the standing sentinels recently seen in London and New York, these ones tend towards the horizontal, modelled in a dozen positions of varying discomfort.
Some are bent at the knees, some are in foetal position, and some completely prone. Gormley explains these as the 12 basic postures of man, but the effect here is one of desolation.
Image © Nigel Green
The bodies each have four round plugs at the front and back, which are residues from their casting. These suggest a lost continuity with one another or a mechanised system with human components, now broken down.
Not only are they atomised, they look in many cases atomic. Compact, rounded forms retain some of the liquidity of their molten origins. Exposed to the sea air, they appear to be rusting fast. Seagulls have left evidence of their flying overhead.
Sit for a while to observe these forms and you may get a sense of empathy. It is easy to feel like one more twisted and naked body in space. In other words, you will have become a Gormley.
After all, this well-formed 6'4" male is both artist and model, and by implication he is also an everyman. Gormley's figures stand for us, whether we like it or not.
Admission free. Open 10am – 6pm (8pm Thursday – Saturday).
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