Anish Kapoor
18 Oct 2007 - 13 Jan 2008
Anish Kapoor
Svayambh
18 Oct 07 - 20 Jan 2008
the indian artist anish kapoor (*1954, bombay) creates objects that seem to stem from a different world: sculptures made from powder pigment, monumental installations with the most diverse materials – often sprayed with intense and yet seemingly soft colours. Even though materiality is at the centre of kapoor’s works, it is also always connected to the notion of spirituality, which goes beyond the object’s superficial reality: ‘material somehow always leads on to something immaterial.’ (kapoor)
for his exhibition ‘svayambh’, anish kapoor has created an enormous, blood-red sculpture that glides almost imperceptibly on tracks through the monumental spaces of the haus der kunst. in passing through the doorways from one room to another, the massive red block, reminiscent of a train, leaves traces: a mixture of vaseline, paint and wax. this large, red mass, which sticks to the marble doorways, reminds of compacted blood and evokes an almost apocalyptic image. the sculpture has the same title as the exhibition: ‘svayambh’, a word which is derived from the sanskrit ‘svayambhu(v)’ meaning self-generated or auto generated. ‘svayambh’ is to be understood as a response to the haus der kunst’s monumental architecture and stands in direct relation to a further site-specific work – ‘wound’ – a slit of about 1,5 m that Kapoor carved directly into a wall in the exhibition. images such as these carry even greater connotations in a building with such a difficult history as the haus der kunst’s.
besides the newly conceived works for the haus der kunst, the exhibition also includes early sculptures such as ‘to reflect an intimate part of the red’ (1981), a group of floor-based objects that are covered in red and yellow pigment. several larger works are on show, such as ‘yellow’ (1999), which threatens to engulf the visitor with its large-scale concave yellow wall; or ‘s-curve’ (2006), a polished steel sculpture that appears to be almost cinematic in that it reflects the viewer several times over.
‘svayambh’ is anish kapoor’s first comprehensive solo-exhibition in germany for ten years.
www.hausderkunst.de
Svayambh
18 Oct 07 - 20 Jan 2008
the indian artist anish kapoor (*1954, bombay) creates objects that seem to stem from a different world: sculptures made from powder pigment, monumental installations with the most diverse materials – often sprayed with intense and yet seemingly soft colours. Even though materiality is at the centre of kapoor’s works, it is also always connected to the notion of spirituality, which goes beyond the object’s superficial reality: ‘material somehow always leads on to something immaterial.’ (kapoor)
for his exhibition ‘svayambh’, anish kapoor has created an enormous, blood-red sculpture that glides almost imperceptibly on tracks through the monumental spaces of the haus der kunst. in passing through the doorways from one room to another, the massive red block, reminiscent of a train, leaves traces: a mixture of vaseline, paint and wax. this large, red mass, which sticks to the marble doorways, reminds of compacted blood and evokes an almost apocalyptic image. the sculpture has the same title as the exhibition: ‘svayambh’, a word which is derived from the sanskrit ‘svayambhu(v)’ meaning self-generated or auto generated. ‘svayambh’ is to be understood as a response to the haus der kunst’s monumental architecture and stands in direct relation to a further site-specific work – ‘wound’ – a slit of about 1,5 m that Kapoor carved directly into a wall in the exhibition. images such as these carry even greater connotations in a building with such a difficult history as the haus der kunst’s.
besides the newly conceived works for the haus der kunst, the exhibition also includes early sculptures such as ‘to reflect an intimate part of the red’ (1981), a group of floor-based objects that are covered in red and yellow pigment. several larger works are on show, such as ‘yellow’ (1999), which threatens to engulf the visitor with its large-scale concave yellow wall; or ‘s-curve’ (2006), a polished steel sculpture that appears to be almost cinematic in that it reflects the viewer several times over.
‘svayambh’ is anish kapoor’s first comprehensive solo-exhibition in germany for ten years.
www.hausderkunst.de