Anish Kapoor CBE
sculptor
ANISH KAPOOR was born in Bombay in 1954 and has lived in London since the early 70’s when he studied at Hornsey College of Art (1973-77) and Chelsea School of Art Design (1977-78). He frequently makes trips back to India, and has acknowledged that his work is inspired by both Western and Eastern culture.
Anish Kapoor is one of the most influential sculptors of his generation. He had his first solo show at Patrice Alexander, Paris in 1980 and over the past twenty years he has exhibited extensively in London and all over the world. His solo shows have included venues such as Kunsthalle Basel, Tate Gallery and Hayward Gallery in London, Reina Sofia in Madrid and CAPC in Bordeaux. He has also participated internationally in many group shows including the Whitechapel Art Gallery, The Royal Academy and Serpentine Gallery in London, Documenta IX in Kassel, Moderna Museet in Stockholm and Jeu de Paume and Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.
He has participated in many important solo and group exhibitions throughout the world and has undertaken a number of major large-scale installations and commissions including: Taratantara (1999), a 35 metre-tall piece installed in the Baltic Flour Mills in Gateshead before renovation began there, Parabolic Waters (2000), consisting of rapidly rotating coloured water, was shown outside the Millennium Dome in London and Marsyas (2002), a large work of steel and polyvinyl chloride installed in the Turbine Hall of Tate Modern. From works such as Turning the World Inside Out (1995) to the massive 125-ton sculpture Cloud Gate (2004) on permanent display in Chicago's Millennium Park, Kapoor's reflective sculptures engage audiences directly, fusing object, viewer, and environment into one physical, constantly fluctuating form.
Anish Kapoor represented Britain at the XLIV Venice Biennale in 1990 when he was awarded the Premio Duemila Prize, and in 1991 he received the Turner Prize at the Tate Gallery, London. He was awarded an Honorary Fellowship at the London Institute in 1997 and during the last decade he has received a number of other honorary fellowships and doctorates from academic institutions world-wide.
Anish Kapoor currently has a major exhibition of his work on display at the Royal Academy of Arts until 11 December 2009. The exhibition showcases a number of new and previously unseen works, including a select group of Kapoor’s early pigment sculptures and beguiling mirror-polished stainless-steel sculptures and cement sculptures, on display for the first time. The exhibition also includes highlights such as the monumental work Svayambh and another major exhibit Shooting Into The Corner, a work of extraordinary complexity and drama that builds up against the walls and floor of the gallery. Tall Tree And The Eye, a major new sculpture, is also on display in the Annenberg Courtyard.
Anish Kapoor is represented by the Lisson Gallery (London), Barbara Gladstone Gallery (New York), Galleria Continua and Galleria Massimo Minini (Italy). In 2003 he was appointed a CBE.
Anish Kapoor lives in Notting Hill with his wife, Susanne and their two children Alba and Ishan.
Anish Kapoor's website
Credits:
Right (top): Anish Kapoor, Islamic Mirror (2008) © Anish Kapoor. Photo: Phillipe Chancel.
Right (upper middle): Anish Kapoor, Turning the World Upside Down III (1996), Deutsche Bank Collection © Anish Kapoor, courtesy Lisson Gallery.
Right (middle): Anish Kapoor, Cloud Gate © Anish Kapoor, courtesy Gladstone Gallery.
Known by many as "The Bean” and made with 110 Tons of stainless steel, Cloud Gate has become a true icon of the City of Chicago since it was installed in Millenium Park in 2004.
Right (lower middle): Anish Kapoor, Sky Mirror © Anish Kapoor, courtesy Gladstone Gallery.
Sky Mirror is a breathtaking, 35-foot-diameter concave mirror made of polished stainless steel, standing nearly three stories tall at the Rockefeller Center in New York.
Right (bottom): Anish Kapoor, Shooting In The Corner (2008-2009) installed at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2009 © Anish Kapoor, courtesy MAK, Vienna, Austrian Museum of Applied Arts/Contemporary Art. Photo: Dave Morgan.
