The Artist: Anish Kapoor, in Paris

At 57, the British artist, Indian born Anish is highly bankable and is one of the greatest living artists in our time.  His are works brings in large of heap of museumgoeres where ever it is exhibited.  Some pieces of his work have earned up to $4 million in auction from blue-chip collectors.

Anish Kapoor is not afraid of thinking big and big things, he loves it actually and you can see it from his creations.  They are often large in scale and are made from anything such as polystyrene, steel, and even PVCs.  But there is one certain large scale project that is so big, even Anish is a bit nervous about it.  For the upcoming 2012 Olympics in London, he has been asked to build a 380 foot tower of spiraling bloodred steel.  This will become the centerpiece of the upcoming Olympic games.  When done, the ArcelorMittal Orbit will stand taller than Big Ben and the Statue of Liberty.  

Source: BBC/Ice Cream blog

Source: Huffington Post

And then there is the "Monumenta," a monumental project in which Kapoor will erect an object within Paris' Grand Palais glass domed hall, originally unveiled to the world during the 1900 Universal Exhibition.  The "Monumenta" is a series of four giant PVC orbs that is inflated to fit the height, length and width of the 145,000 square foot hall.  This piece is a side step from the usual Anish because he normally works with metal in solid forms.  The Monumenta was unveiled to the public three days ago.  Visit their website to see and may be read more about it... it is in French however.

Source: Monumenta 2011

Monumenta 2011

"His work, which is abstract, conceptual and spiritual, can be translated across cultures"

- Barbara Gladstone, 25 year gallerist for Kapoor in New York

Top: "Memory" at Deutche Guggenheim (2009).  Bottom: "Clound Gate" at Chicago's Millennium Park  (2004).
Source: The WSJ Magazine, May 2011 issue



Bottom: "Dismemberment" at New Zealand's sculpture park The Farm (2003).
Source: The WSJ Magazine, May 2011 issue

Bottom: "Sky Mirrors" at London's Kensington Gardens (2010).
Source: The WSJ Magazine, May 2011 issue

"Yellow" at London's Royal Academy of Arts (2009)
Source: The WSJ Magazine, May 2011 

Kapoor stops range from the Museum of Modern Art, the Louvre, to the Guggenheim and Tate Modern.  At the Tate, he installed a trumpet like object entitled "Marsyas" in 2002, it attracted 1.85 million viewers.  This exhibit was the most popular the museum has ever held.  When the Royal Academy of Arts wanted to hold an retrospective of Kapoor's work in 2009, 275,000 people came to visit.  For the academy, it was their most successful exhibition by an artist that is still living.

I was lucky enough to see "Cloud Gate" while in Chicago a few years back, it is quite breath taking.  You can see the sky up close as it reflects on the bean shaped metalwork, from all sides.  The funny thing is that all the locals there dubbed "Cloud Gate" as "The Bean."  Well, it does look like a bean to me too.  I just hope I can  locate the pictures I took of "Cloud Gate".  When I do I will update this post.

Source of article:  The WSJ Magazine, May 2011 issue