PopUp Painting’s ‘artist of the week’ is Anish Kapoor.
Anish Kapoor (b. 1954) is a British-Indian sculptor known for his large scale sculptures and installations that distort space.
Kapoor was born in Bombay, but moved to London in the 1970’s to study art at Hornsey School of Art and later at Chelsea School of art and Design. While studying Anish Kapoor began making geometric and biomorphic sculptures made from stone, marble and plaster. The artist covered these forms in brightly coloured pigments which he had brought back from a trip to India. These early sculptures by the artist were recognised by art critics and the artist was included in the high profile exhibition ‘New Sculpture’ at the Hayward Gallery.
This recognition allowed the artist to become more ambitious with his work and by the late 1980’s and early 1990’s Kapoor was making large scale installations that played with space and our perception of it. In 1991 Kapoor won the Turner prize.
One reoccurring aspect of Kapoor’s work is the ‘Void’, where the artist creates sculptures and installations that seem to recede into the distance and distort the space around them. Much of Anish Kapoor’s work blurs the line between art and architecture, with the artist having created many large public commissions. Some his most notable public works include the ‘ArcelorMittal Orbit’ created for the 2012 London Olympics and ‘Cloud Gate’, fondly known as ‘The Bean’ in Chicago.
In 2009 the Anish Kapoor was the first living artist to have solo show at the Royal Academy of Arts.
In 2016 the artist controversially bought the rights to the blackest substance known to man, Vantablack, for use in his work.
Kapoor’s contributions to art have gained him a knighthood, an honorary Oxford degree and have given the artist the status as one of the most influential living artists of our time.
We will be featuring Anish Kapoor’s work all week on our Facebook and Twitter pages, but in the meantime here is a selection of our favourite works by the artist:
