Antony Gormley

PROPPERS, 2010 - 2018

The PROPPERS can be traced back to the BLOCKWORKS of 2001. In these sculptures, the space displaced by the artist's body was materialized in 'physical pixellations' made from steel blocks. 

By 2004, the blocks started to be arranged according to the logic of architectural construction using stacking, propping and cantilever, which allowed for a greater dynamic of parts and greater liberty with the body-volumes.

As always, the process begins with a moment of lived time: the moulding of the artist's body, but these new works developed the language of an intermediary series, the BEAMERS. These are pieces where beams, running in three axes, touch the body's boundary and form an axial stack. 'Propping' developed from trying to achieve the maximum difference of the beam section with the minimum number of elements to make a stack of beams within the bounding condition of a human body.

The work uses the tectonics of post and lintel architecture to translate body mass into the equivalent of a high-rise tower or cantilevered pontoon, but does so with the freedom of a child seeing how high his wooden blocks can reach.

Download text
STATE I, 2011

STATE I, 2011
Cast iron
192 x 46 x 32 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

STATE VII, 2011

STATE VII, 2011
Cast iron
193 x 42 x 35 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

STATE IV, 2011

STATE IV, 2011
Cast iron
192 x 41 x 32 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

STATE II

STATE II, 2011
Cast iron
192 x 41 x 32 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

TOWER

TOWER, 2011
Mild steel blocks, various sizes
190 x 37 x 33 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

PUSH VI

PUSH VI, 2011
Cast iron
167.5 x 44.5 x 44 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

CONTRACT II

CONTRACT II, 2012
Mild Steel bar
46 x 43 x 163 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

SUBMIT, 2012

SUBMIT, 2012
Mild steel bar
164 x 48 x 48 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

PUSH V, 2012

PUSH V, 2012
Mild steel blocks
166 x 47 x 46 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

STAY II, 2012

STAY II, 2012
Mild Steel blocks
118 x 46 x 106 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

SUBJECT II, 2012

SUBJECT II, 2012
Mild steel blocks
144 x 49 x 70 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

HOLD IV, 2012

HOLD IV, 2012
Mild steel blocks
77 x 42 x 61 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

PROP II, 2012

PROP II, 2012
Mild Steel blocks
172 x 50 x 65 cm
Installation FACTS AND SYSTEMS [FATOS E SISTEMAS], White Cube, São Paulo, Brazil
Photograph by Edouard Fraipont

STATE III, 2012

STATE III, 2012
Mild steel bar
191 x 42 x 34 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

SUBMIT III, 2012

SUBMIT III, 2012
Mild steel bar
164 x 48 x 47 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

PUSH VII, 2012

PUSH VII, 2012
Mild Steel bar
166 x 47 x 46 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

CONTRACT IV, 2012

CONTRACT IV, 2012
Mild Steel Bar
163 x 50 x 46 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

STATE X, 2013

STATE X, 2013
Cast iron
189.5 x 45 x 35.5 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

BUILDING 1-5, 2013

BUILDING 1-5, 2013
Cast iron
Dimensions variable
Photograph by Stephen White, London

STATE XIV, 2015

STATE XIV, 2015
Cast iron
192 x 43 x 33 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

STATE XVI, 2015

STATE XVI, 2015
Cast iron
192 x 42 x 34 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

STATE XVIII, 2015

STATE XVIII, 2015
Cast iron
190 x 42 x 34.5 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

STATE XXIX, 2017

STATE XXIX, 2017
Cast iron
190 x 42 x 33.5 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

STATE XXIV, 2017

STATE XXIV, 2017
Cast iron
191 x 44.4 x 34.9 cm
Photograph by Stephen White, London

STATE XXXIII, 2018

STATE XXXIII, 2018
Cast iron
191 x 45.5 x 35.1 cm
Photograph by Stephen White & Co.
© the artist

Facts and Systems, White Cube, São Paulo, BrazilFacts and Systems, White Cube, São Paulo, Brazil More informationMore information