Anish Kapoor: Memory
Guggenheim Museum – New York, NY
Opening 10/21/09
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Anish Kapoor’s Memory is his latest site-specific installation which explores perceptions of depth, color and scale. Last December, I saw the sculpture at the Guggenheim in Berlin, the only piece being exhibited in the small gallery space at the time. On one side, you can only see the Cor-Ten steel facade of the exterior. From that vantage point, the sculpture resembles an alien space capsule or time machine resting within the museum. It is an imposing structure, and at first glance you can only imagine the interior space and opposite side. The sculpture, by expanding from one wall to another, blocks any panoramic view of its sculpture, forcing viewers to come to their own conclusions based on their limited perspective. On the other side of the sculpture, accessible through another room, the piece opens up into a void, revealing the dark, hollow space within. The viewable expanse inside of the sculpture is also limited by the space allowed by the opening.

Impressive in its weight, scale and distortion of gallery spaces, Memory challenges the way we interact with sculpture and allows for the viewer’s own perception and memory to carry its interpretations.

Anish Kapoor was born in 1954 in Bombay (now Mumbai), India, and currently lives and works in London. Kapoor has exhibited extensively both internationally and in London. He was the recipient of the prestigious Turner Prize, awarded in 1991. He has undertaken a number of major large-scale installations and commissions, including Taratantara (BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, England, 1999, and Piazza del Plebicito, Naples, 2000–01), Marsyas (Tate Modern, London, 2002–03), Cloud Gate (Millennium Park, Chicago, 2004–present), Sky Mirror (Rockefeller Center, New York, 2006) and Svayambh (Haus der Kunst, Munich, 2007–08). Kapoor will have a major solo exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London in fall 2009.

Media Preview:
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Preview: 9–11 am
Remarks: 9:30 am

Anish Kapoor will be present.

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For more information on the exhibit, visit the Guggenheim website.

via Abe Ahn, 15 October 2009 9:35am | |