Antony Gormley on Sculpture

by Antony Gormley, Mark Holborn

Antony Gormley occupies an unusual position as a highly popular sculptor – known chiefly for his Angel of the North (1998), a national landmark in the UK – who is also widely regarded as one of the most intellectually challenging artists working internationally. He is grounded in archaeology and anthropology, and looks to Asian and Buddhist traditions as much as to Western sculptural history, which he believes reached a punctuation point with Rodin. This is the first book to focus on Gormley’s thoughts on sculpture, positioning his career and artistic philosophy in relation to its history.

The book is structured thematically over four chapters: the first explores Gormley’s thoughts on the body, time and space in relation to major works including European Field (1993) and ‘Still Standing’ (2011), Gormley’s rehang of the classical rooms at the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. The second chapter, ‘Sculptors’, was first delivered as a series of five lectures for the BBC; in each, Gormley discusses a sculpture he considers to be of huge creative importance: Epstein’s The Rock Drill (1913–15), Brancusi’s The Endless Column (1935–38), Giacometti’s La Place (1948–49), Joseph Beuys’s Plight (1985) and Richard Serra’s The Matter of Time (2005). In the third chapter, Gormley outlines the influence of Buddhist and Jain sculpture on his work and ideas, and the fourth showcases the artist’s most recent sculptures.

Presented in Gormley's own voice, this book captures the universal resonance of an artist with an unerring ability to tap into the public consciousness

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

248 pages, Paperback

First published October 5, 2015

Reviews

[Peter White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gormley is an exceptionally thoughtful sculptor and this book of essays shows the he is an equally capable and perceptive writer. Anyone interested in sculpture in general (not specifically Gormley's) will get something from this book and will contemplate 3D art through a fresh lens afterwards.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. It amazes me how some artists can develop a concept and create their art to reflect this in such diverse and clever ways. I loved the chapters on Jacob Epstein and Richard Serra particularly and they sent me off researching more about the thoughts and ideas behind their works. I now want to find more stuff written by Gormley ... or Epstein or Beuys ...

[Anna Kravchuk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most of the time when I try reading a piece where an artist explains their vision and philosophy I find it unbearably watery and cringeworthy, but in this case the text feels sincere, crisp and filled with actual thoughts and ideas, and the traces of these ideas are indeed visible in Antony Gormley's works.

[Frederic De meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Profound and insightful, both in relation to his own work and that of others (Brancusi, Giacometti, Beuys, Serra). "Buddhism gave me the idea of making sculpture by being rather than by doing." The same might apply on his writings...

[Arcee · Rating 5 out of 5]

fessing up that i've already been a fan of gormley's work way before i read this, but if anything this concretised all the love i have for his body (haha) of work and his practice. an introspective read - gormley's commentary is salient, and i think it's testament to the rigour of his conceptual process and his ability as a writer and artist that he is able to translate his work (which is, by nature, something so subconsciously instinctive) into prose that remains both meaningful and accessible.

must read for any fans of the ybas, modernism, post-modernism, & sculpture in general (i'm all of the above . WELL...)

[Celestin Büche · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like his sculptures. His writing not so much.

[Jonnie Hann · Rating 5 out of 5]

deeply calming. fixed my insomnia

[Ruth Brumby · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well thought out book, with clear writing and a good choice of illustrations. His ideas are interesting, although I don't agree with him that the body is a 'vehicle' for the self.

[Cellophane Renaissance · Rating 5 out of 5]

"that are both objects and places"

"the body as a place"


this book is so beautiful <3