antony gormley: aperature exhibition at xavier hufkens gallery, brussels

aperture by anthony gormley

xavier hufkens gallery, brussels

september 19th – october 22nd, 2009

core, 2008
cast iron
191 x 96 x 95 cm
image courtesy of the artist and xavier hufkens, brussels

over the last three years, artist antony gormley has been experimenting with cell aggregates
of nesting polyhedra in both solid and space-frame forms turning the space of the body
into an open framework of tetrahedral, cubic, dodecahedral and more complex polygons
which gormley says, ‘achieves a breakthrough when released from a bounding skin.’

the result is the work ‘aperture’. the main room of the xavier hufkens gallery, from floor to ceiling
and wall to wall, will be filled with polyhedral space-frames in which the viewer is invited
to wander through. negating the orthogonal geometries of regular architecture, this aggregate
surrounds a void: a human-shaped cave at around ten times life size. at rest, the same body
is made massive and life-size and lies on the floor of the gallery up a short flight of stairs.
the other works in the exhibition explore bubble geometry through standing and falling forms
in both solid and cloud formations.

‘aperature’ is a relationship with a room, seaming a gap in space filled with the behavioral
geometry of the bubble matrix. the outer edges of this form dynamically grasp the air.

gormley’s work has always explored the body as a place rather than an object.
in aperture he takes us into a new zone of structural complexity, while at the same time
evoking the body as an open space of possibility connected with the earth as well as
the space at large. the main installation of the exhibition could be conceived of as a
space / time map in which hundreds of spheres are held in space by drawing a constellation
between them within which the body of the viewer is allowed free passage.

not yet titled, 2009
cast iron
40 x 127 x 71 cm
image courtesy of the artist and xavier hufkens, brussels

aperture, 2009
6mm square section mild steel
188 x 51 x 34 cm
image courtesy of the artist and xavier hufkens, brussels

freeze, 2008
2mm square section stainless steel wire
217 x 125 x 101 cm
image courtesy of the artist and xavier hufkens, brussels

freeze II, 2008
1.6 mm stainless steel wire
240 x 180 x 140 cm
image courtesy of the artist and xavier hufkens, brussels

cumulus, 2008
2mm square section stainless steel bar
244 x 224 x 210 cm
image courtesy of the artist and xavier hufkens, brussels

body V, 2009
carbon and casein on paper
111 x 77 cm
image courtesy of the artist and xavier hufkens, brussels

drift II, 2009
carbon and casein on paper
111 x 77 cm
image courtesy of the artist and xavier hufkens, brussels

geometry IV, 2008
carbon and casein on paper
111 x 77 cm
image courtesy of the artist and xavier hufkens, brussels

rain VII, 2009
carbon and casein on paper
111 x 77 cm
image courtesy of the artist and xavier hufkens, brussels

cross XI, 2009
carbon and casein on paper
111 x 77 cm
image courtesy of the artist and xavier hufkens, brussels

clearing 106, 2009
carbon and casein on paper
111 x 77 cm
image courtesy of the artist and xavier hufkens, brussels