Antony Gormley

HERMITAGE BLOCKWORKS, 2010 - 2011

These poses derive from moulds for a sequence of works first made in 2007 called ATAXIA. They re-describe the space of the human body using the Euclidean geometry of architecture. 'Ataxia' is the medical condition where you lose control of your body. In using the language of the architecture that surrounds us to describe this unstable inner state, I hope to express its potential to fall apart. When exhibited at the State Hermitage Museum in 2011, there was a contrast between their introverted instability and the confident poise of the works from the classical collection.

These works attempt to apply the language of modernity to the body in order to see what sort of emotional language arises. Mondrian used the orthogonal grid as a structure for pure perception. With these works I bring the grid to the human body, as a lost subject. The works demand empathy to recover the emotion that Mondrian removed from art.

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CLASP

CLASP, 2010
Cast iron
187 x 42 x 37 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

CATCH

CATCH, 2010
Cast iron
185.6 x 45 x 43.4 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

SLUG, 2010

SLUG, 2010
Cast iron
174 x 52 x 46 cm
Photograph by Stephen White

CLUTCH VIII, 2010

CLUTCH VIII, 2010
Cast iron
93 x 45 x 78 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

SNOOK, 2010

SNOOK, 2010
Cast iron
188 x 39 x 46 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

HAFT III, 2010

HAFT III, 2010
Cast iron
173.5 x 47 x 54 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

TURN III, 2010

TURN III, 2010
Cast iron
182 x 45 x 35.5 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

LEVEL, 2010

LEVEL, 2010
Cast iron
24 x 204 x 56 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

FORCE II, 2011

FORCE II, 2011
Cast iron
174 x 49.5 x 43 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

ABSTRACT IV, 2011

ABSTRACT IV, 2011
Cast iron
76.5 x 55.5 x 67 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

LIST III, 2011

LIST III, 2011
Cast iron
182.5 x 46 x 32 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

STAND VI, 2011

STAND VI, 2011
Cast iron
192 x 44.5 x 33.5 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

SPLICE V, 2011

SPLICE V, 2011
Cast iron
178 x 44 x 35 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

SHY IX, 2011

SHY IX, 2011
Cast iron
181 x 41 x 38 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

STALL, 2011

STALL, 2011
Cast iron
192 x 49 x 37 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

SHRIVE VI, 2011

SHRIVE VI, 2011
Cast iron
179 x 44 x 46 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

BIND II, 2011

BIND II, 2011
Cast iron
185 x 40 x 53 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

STILL STANDING
Film by Jon Lowe Courtesy White Cube, London 15mins56

Still Standing, State Hermitage Museum, St PetersburgStill Standing, State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg Still Standing, White Cube, Hoxton Square, LondonStill Standing, White Cube, Hoxton Square, London