Go See: Antony Gormley’s ‘ATAXIA II’ at Thaddaeus Ropac in Salzburg through May 23, 2009

April 30th, 2009


Antony Gormley’s ‘Clutch II’ via Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac

Currently on view at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac’s Salzburg location is Antony Gormley’s exhibition of new drawing and sculptures, ‘ATAXIA II.’ Ataxia, a Greek word meaning ‘lack of order,’ is a neurological condition that results in the loss of coordination and bodily control. A series of seven sculptures composed of iron blocks shows the body in varying physical states representing a a loss of control. The works’ titles, Turn, Splice, Shrive, Shy, List, Clutch, and Haft, correspond to different pathologies and movements.  Also on view are several small black and white drawings exploring the idea that our bodies are heavily influenced by outside forces, both social and physical.

Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac
Antony Gormley
Body Art [Artinfo]


Installation view of Antony Gormley’s ‘ATAXIS II’ via Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac

The Turner Prize-winning sculptor has made the body – frequently his own body – the focus of his work throughout his career. ‘ATAXIA II’ deals with the architectural space of the body. By placing each of the seven sculptures alone in the center of separate rooms, the viewer is left to experience the physical states implied by the titles as a push and pull, a struggle between self-control and the environment at large.


Antony Gormley’s ‘Shy V’ via Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac

Gormley won this year’s Fourth Plinth Commission (previously covered by AO here), which grants artists use of Trafalgar Square’s empty fourth plinth each summer. Gormley’s work, titled ‘One and Other,’ has 2400 volunteers atop the plinth for an hour each doing whatever they choose. ‘ATAXIA II’ runs at Thaddaeus Ropac in Salzburg April 4 through May 23.


Antony Gormley’s ‘Turn II’ via Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac


Installation view of Antony Gormley’s ‘ATAXIS II’ via Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac