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Home » Go See – London: Anish Kapoor at London’s Royal Academy through December 11, 2009

Go See – London: Anish Kapoor at London’s Royal Academy through December 11, 2009

October 6th, 2009


Svayambh, Anish Kapoor via The Guardian

Currently on show at London’s Royal Academy is a major solo exhibition of one of the most influential sculptors of our time, Anish Kapoor. The 1991 Turner Prize winner’s work has taken over the main galleries of the Museum and serves as a survey of his entire body of work to date, as well as introducing the viewer to new and previously unseen pieces.

Anish Kapoor Portrait Royal Academy
Anish Kapoor via The Royal Academy

Related Links:
Royal Academy Homepage
Anish Kapoor Official Homepage
Anish Kapoor, Royal Academy, London [The Independent]
Anish Kapoor: A very fine mess [Guardian UK]
Kapoor Fires Cannon, Makes Mess at Royal Academy: Interview [Bloomberg]
“Bloody” Anish Kapoor sculptures on show at Royal Academy [M&C]
Anish Kapoor exhibition at the Royal Academy [Times Online]
Anish Kapoor [Guardian UK]
Shooting Into the Academy [The Wall Street Journal]
Anish Kapoor at the Royal Academy, London [Financial Times]
Bringing beauty and beast into the drawing room [Economist.com]
Anish Kapoor at the Royal Academy review by Lucy Charkin [fadwebsite.com]

More text and images after the jump…..
Kapoor_Shooting into the Corner b
Shooting into the Corner, Anish Kapoor via The Royal Academy

A large canon firing Napoleonic wax at regular intervals onto a white wall, named Shooting into the Corner, serves as a centerpiece to this major exhibition. With the relentless repetition of the firing action, the wax will build against the walls and the floor of the gallery throughout the show, and therefore the work is set to evolve throughout the duration of the exhibition.


Anish Kapoor with his sculpture, Yellow via The Guardian

Kapoor_Greyman Cries
Greyman Cries, Shaman Dies, Billowing Smoke, Beauty Evoked via The Royal Academy

Another highlight is the monumental Svayambh (the title is taken from the Sanskrit word meaning “self-generated”) a large piece of wax that moves imperceptibly on sunken rails throughout the galleries leaving a residue in its wake. This monumental work was first created for the Musee de Beaux Artes, Nantes (France) in 2007, on this occasion Svayambh has been tailored specifically to the architecture of the Royal Academy’s main galleries and therefore reflects Kapoor’s keen exploration of sculptural works that actively participate in their own formation.

Anish Kapoor Svayambh, 2007  royal academy
Svayambh, Anish Kapoor via The Royal Academy

Further to this is the enormous rusted vessel Hive that is being exhibited for the first time ever and ends the show. This immense sculpture is one that the London Economist have described as so powerful it would be worth the price of admission even if the rest of the gallery were bare.


Hive, Anish Kapoor via daylife.com

Kapoor_Yellow, Royal Academy of Arts
Yellow, Anish Kapoor via The Royal Academy

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