Antony Gormley, Royal Academy of Arts - ★★★★★ - Until December 3, 2019


This exhibition is not intended as a survey of Antony Gormley's work but it presents some classics like Exercise Between Blood and Earth (1979-1981) and provides some stunning new work like Matrix. From the notebooks to the massive sculptural environments, Gormley's work almost always exists as a reflection on the human body, its component parts and its relationship with space. In some parts of the exhibition, such as Clearing and Co-ordinate, it is the spectator who is asked to reflect on the perspective that their own body is put into. In other works, such as Slabworks and Subject, we stand back and see the human body as it occupies and informs space. Then there is a stunning work like Lost Horizon that challenges not only our conventional view of the occupation of space, but defies our reliance on the concept of gravity. There is much here that questions our orientation to our world, sometimes by changing scale like Body and Fruit and sometimes by changing the scale of our space as in Cave. From Iron Baby in the courtyard to the vista provided by Host, Gormley takes us on a journey that makes us question and explore our place in the world in fascinating ways.

Reviewed by J.C.

  Our Score:  ☆☆☆☆☆ 

 WHEN, WHERE, GETTING THERE:
Until December 3, 2019
Daily: 10 am - 6 pm (Fri until 10 pm)
Sat until 10 pm (except Oct 5 and Nov 23)
Royal Academy of Arts: Main Galleries, Burlington House
Nearest tube: Piccadilly Circus
https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/antony-gormley

Map & Location: Burlington House, Piccadilly, Mayfair, London W1J 0BD, UK

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