Anish Kapoor exhibition

The Anish Kapoor’s exhibition is “surveys of his career to date showcasing a number of a new previously unseen works, including a select group of Kapoor’s early pigment sculptures, beguiling mirror-polished stainless-steel sculptures and cement sculptures on display for the first time.” (Royal Academy of Art, Anish Kapoor’s exhibition’s handbook, 2009)

The first thing that catch your attention before enter the exhibition is the towering new sculpture, Tall Tree and the Eye, that has gone up in the courtyard of the Royal Academy of Arts. This fifteen metres heighted art work has a very interesting dialogue with the sculpture of a painter in the yard.

In fact Kapoor’s works are really entertaining. I found his exhibition very popular because people could found themselves a part of the art work. Some of his works are meaningless without audiences such as mirror-polished stainless-steel works. People stand in front of these works and enjoy their destroyed reflect. As usual the dimension and technology of Kapoor’s work are catching. But one of my favourites is those works made by pigment.

Pigment sculptures seem to be influenced by Indian traditions. In deed I would like to focus on these works. There is an interesting similarity between Kapoor and Maharaja Exhibition. One of miniature paintings in Maharaja Exhibition shows a traditional fete in India which People throwing some colourful powder. Indian people use these powders a lot in their traditional festivals.

It is clear that while of being a post-modern artist, Kapoor uses Indian traditions. He changes traditions to present them in a gallery as a contemporary art work. The idea of using cultural roots in new art always has been appreciated and Kapoor is one of the best examples. He knows the specification of new art and how to develop a culture to make it modern.

According to a review on Independent website “His earliest signature sculptures from the early 80s were geometrical solids on the floor, covered in powdered pigments. Their colours were so intense; your eye lost its grip on their volumes. It's good to see these small, dazzling objects again. This isn't a retrospective, but there's enough here to remind you of Kapoor's powers as an illusionist. He's invented some very original optical tricks.” (Lubbock, T, Independent, 24 Sep 2009)