Niamh Conneely

Anish Kapoor, Royal Academy London, 26 September—11 December 2009

The spectacle of Anish Kapoor mid-career retrospective begins before you pass through the
doors of Burlington House. Enticing us through the arches of the RA’s courtyard, Tall Tree and
The Eye, a 15-metre column made of 75 mirror-spheres, bubbles up through the open air space.
Each reflects a different viewpoint of the impressive architecture, amazing and dwarfing us
simultaneously. Though it stands 15 metres tall it its seamless construction allows it to appear
weightless, delicate and fragile. We see ourselves both reflected and lost within them, being
forced into a state of contemplation, a tone which is common throughout this exhibition.
The show begins with Kapoor’s signature sculptures, 100 names 1979-80, covered in gesso and
powdered pigment. Having seen these pieces before I hadn’t expected to have such a keen
interest, yet the intense colours and forms still managed to arouse my senses, transporting me
to Kapoor’s birthplace, Mumbai. I was however somewhat disappointed in the shiny circular
white plinths the sculptures were grouped on. Previously the pieces seemed beautifully organic
to me, the dusted pigment on bare floor creating the illusion of grown and germination. The
plinths left them somewhat lacking.
Exiting the room I am completely saturated in Yellow 1999. The six square metre fibreglass disc
smothered in 12 coats of yellow paint is all consuming. It completely floods the viewers vision, I
feel almost swallowed in the womb like form and enticing hue. I am diminished and
miniaturized in its enveloping radiance, my eyes struggling to find an end to the yellow pit.
Greyman Cries, Shaman Dies, Billowing Smoke,
Beauty Evoked 2008-09 is the title of Kapoor’s new series of sculptures. On low pallets, a large
series of sculptures crowd the room, made up of mounds of piped concrete varying subtly in
girth, height and shape. These squirming piles evoke ideas of entrails, worm casts and piles of
dung. As these crates are somewhat overlapping we are forced to tentatively move around,
choosing our own path around the sculptures. Having been drawn and made with the aid of a
computer controlled piping machine, there is the idea of the infinite and the cloned, yet the
material used has allowed for some kind of degradation, of drooping and warping which adds a
much needed degree of interest. This series of work is a radical departure from the highly
finished and polished surfaces of much of Kapoor’s other work. Perhaps it is the lack of wow
factor in this series but I find an awful sameness in each of the dowdy, repetitive towers.

By contrast, Untitled 2009 is a new but far more effective departure for Kapoor. Its writhing
form seems to have grown sporadically around the gallery, momentarily frozen in time as we
view it, forcing our eyes to contemplate the surrounding space. Although somewhat still it is my
no means peaceful, this intestinal form has the potential to contort and thrash at any moment.
The stark red almost wet mouth adds to the uncomfortable tone the sculpture sets.
Hive 2009 has been made and installed especially for the Royal Academy. This corton steel giant
some ten metres high, manages to turn the space inside out. You feel as though you are in a
sensory vacuum, the piece confronts you head on, invading your personal space and forcing you
to react to it. There is stark contrast with the industrial form juxtaposed to the traditional
architecture of the building; one immediately notices the rust and tarnish against the well
polished cornices of the gallery. The blatantly oversized sculpture relishes in this classic space.
The essence of Shooting into the Corner 2008-09 is very much in the performance. Somewhat
ritualistically, every 20 minutes an attendant loads the canon of the pneumatic compressor in
front of an amassed crowed quivering with excitement. The twittering gallery explodes with the
sound of the 9kg cylindrical wax bullet being fired at the opposing wall landing with a hefty thud
splattering the increasingly wax filled walls. Some may bash this piece as a simple crowd
pleaser and a spectacle, but I see nothing wrong in this. Kapoor’s sculptures are more than
often striking, sensory and spectacular; Shooting in the Corner is the gallery-goers’ version of
cinematic special effects. It is produced with Kapoor’s signature preciseness and carried out
with class and sophistication, pleasing the masses does not always have to mean an artist has
forgone tact.

I came across Svayambh 2007, Sanskrit for self-

generated, from a distance staring down the long silent track as though willing a home bound
train to arrive. The 40 tons of red paint, wax and Vaseline just squeezes its huge mass through
the five galleries of the Academy, leaving a splattered residue in its wake. Taking an hour and a
half to complete one journey through the galleries creates a real tension in the space. It seems
to create time, by slowing down every person which views it. Although we live in a world of
bright images and vivid colours, the severe sensory purity of the saturation of a single colour is a
real visual treat. As the silent giant creeps closer, surface pleasure opens up deep thought. The
illusion of a complete block of wax is effective, though we know structurally there must be a
support system. For me the piece is not about how it’s made, and its finish, but how it makes
you feel. In my case, contemplative, quiet and sublime.
Over his career, Kapoor has become more of a public than a private artist. His work inspires awe
in the large numbers of people who flock to see it. However, I for one find his more quiet pieces
more sculpturally sound. When I am pregnant 1992, a gentle swelling of a pristine white wall
stood out for me in the exhibition. Meticulously made and understated, this piece showcases
the talent and tentative intelligent thought of Kapoor, without grandstanding, it whispers it does
not shout. On whole, the exhibition was an entertaining journey of the senses; it offered both
spectacle and quiet reverence with stunning finish and elegance. The small dusted pieces, the
concavities and protuberances as well as the public mega-sculptures, explore the endless
possibilities of sculpture. There is something for everyone, believers and non-believers alike.