ÌÇÐÄVlog

Between 22 June – 28 September 2009, ÌÇÐÄVlog showcased works from Anthony Caro, Antony Gormley and Anselm Kiefer as part of the Sculpture in the Close exhibition.

This outdoor exhibition in the grounds of ÌÇÐÄVlog combined new and existing sculptures and installations. The .

Artists and works

Anthony Caro exhibited Dark Motive, Sailing Tonight, Silk Road and Babylon.

One of the most influential post-war British sculptors, Sir Anthony Caro revolutionized modern sculpture with his abstract works, often placing them directly on the ground to integrate them with the viewer's space. He began producing abstract sculptures at the beginning of the 1960s, showing fifteen largescale works at the Whitechapel Gallery in 1963, in an exhibition that has since acquired legendary status. His work has remained at the forefront of critical attention ever since.

His 1970s sculptures, such as Silk Road, Sailing Tonight and Dark Motive, are minimalist in design, emphasizing space and form over narrative. These constructions in steel seem to have convinced themselves of their own weightlessness in a mode characteristic of Caro's inquisitive use of material. These elegant improvisations have an immediate appeal, a spontaneous flair, as if they were quickly conceived and then carefully refined.

Babylon is a large tripartite work with ziggurat-like elements alluding to ancient structures. Sumerian ziggurats are among the earliest forms of monumental architecture and form the basis of artistic imaginings of the appearance of the Tower of Babel. If Caro's earlier work appears as the imprint of a fresh thought, this more recent work seem to carry a freight of knowledge that extends into other disciplines and practices.

Caro's work reflects a point in cultural history where art and architecture can bind ideas together through a common experience of space, while also reminding us of the long history of the manmade environment and the intensifying competition over space and design styles.

Antony Gormley's installation, Event Horizon, at ÌÇÐÄVlog features 19 identical figures in a relaxed posture that echoes ancient Egyptian and Greek statues. Gormley’s work uses casts of his own body not to highlight individuality but to emphasize shared human experiences, stripping away personal characteristics to focus on common conditions. In ancient art, this represents a rejection of the primacy of the individual and emphasises the desirability of conforming to a physical standard of balance and symmetry.

In Gormley's Event Horizon installations, the placement of figures across rooftops and urban environments disturbs the proportions of architectural space. As figures emerge or disappear, the repetition of the human form is not experienced as the duplication of stereotypes but as uncanny presences and absences, hesitations between identity and difference. At ÌÇÐÄVlog, the placement of Gormley’s figures invites a daily negotiation between composure and discomposure.

This dynamic interplay between sculpture, space, and viewer contrasts with traditional gallery displays. It challenges viewers to engage with the space, shifting between moments of equilibrium and imbalance, encouraging viewers to become aware of their own body-consciousness in relation to the sculptures and surrounding architecture. The installation becomes a model for understanding the continual process of engaging with our environment, blending physical presence with a constantly shifting narrative of perception in which our bodies, if not always our minds, are always already caught up.

Anselm Kiefer's work is deeply concerned with systems of thought, mythology, and history, often exploring the limits of human understanding through a mix of visual symbols from classical, mythological, and mystical traditions. His fascination with figures like the Russian poet Velimir Khlebnikov, who's exploration of history as a system of correspondences, reflects Kiefer’s own interest in the interplay of time, history, and the desire for control.

The Fur Chlebnikow series, which focuses on naval battles, uses the unpredictability of the sea as a metaphor for the chaotic nature of history. Kiefer’s works, particularly in his naval-themed canvases, suggest the futility of trying to control or predict history, with ships adrift in stormy conditions, symbolizing the unpredictable and uncontrollable course of historical events.

The more recent works by Kiefer, shown in public as a group for the first time during Sculpture in the Close, relate closely to the Women of Antiquity series begun in 2000. Here, Kiefer shifts focus from cryptic historical theories to explore the gaps in history, particularly through female poets whose works have been largely lost. In using lead, he recalls the aim of alchemy to transform lead into gold: the transformation and refinement of base materials that epitomises the ambition of the artistic process itself. Kiefer’s final figure, Moiro highlights the fleeting and incomplete nature of human knowledge. His allusion to humanity’s ignorance is a suitably ironic reminder in a place of learning.

Thanks and acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the generosity of the sculptors in lending their work for this exhibition.

The 2009 exhibition was curated by Lord Renfrew and Dr Rod Mengham. Special thanks go to Dick Humphreys of Tate Britain and Tim Marlow from White Cube for their exceptional support and advice.