Antony Gormley : Drawing Space

MACRO
26 October 2010 - 6 February 2011

By Nicole Minatel


Most people who are familiar with Antony Gormley know him for his world-renowned sculptural projects that explore relationship of the human body to space, be it through smaller works made primarily of casts of his own figure or monumental public works such as the widely acclaimed Angel of the North. Few people, however, are familiar with the mental process Gormley undergoes every time he is to create one of his spatially explorative sculptures, which privileged visitors to the MACRO Rome can see from the 26th of October 2010 to the 6th of February 2011 in an exhibition entitled Drawing Space.
In this show, a large installation that encompasses two large rooms of the MACRO, over 80 drawings and four sculptures created by Gormley since 1981 take the viewer on a tour of the development of the artists’ thought process. This unfolding can be traced from (at a first glance) somewhat crude drawings, made primarily in black pen on paper, to gravity-defying geometrical sculptures that seem to float in space at each edge of the room.
The intimate drawings and lesser known sculptures present the viewer with a novel side to the artist, considered the foremost British sculptor of our time. Born in London in 1950, Gormley attended a number of prestigious art schools in the United Kingdom until his ascent to fame in the early 1990’s, which culminated in his reception of the Turner Prize in 1994 and an Order of the British Empire for his services to sculpture in 1997. These prizes brought international fame to the artist, who has not only been a part of solo and group shows all over the world but also has received commissions for major public works in cities such as London and New York. Nevertheless, Drawing Space is Gormley’s first exhibit in Italy.
With this in mind, curators Luca Massimo Barbero and Anna Moszynska went through a great deal of effort to create a clean, dynamic and easily digestible exhibit at the MACRO, focusing primarily on allowing the viewer to come into contact with an artist that is somewhat foreign to the Italian audience. Based almost entirely on drawings from the British Museum in London and the artist’s private collection, the show is indeed a pleasant introduction to the creational procedures of a man who is able to conjure and provoke self-inquiries about each person’s inner and outer self through his many sculptures. Determined to explore this theme, Gormley uses both abstract basic presentations of the human body – which receive an emotive facet through our own interpretations and personal responses to the metallic figures on display.
The presence of drawings furthers and validates Gormley’s artistic achievement, as through them he adds drawing to his obvious sculptural expertise. His technique is, understandably, as unique as his sculptural innovations, leading the unknowing viewer to assume he lacks draftsmanship skills. But any close look at the actual illustrations shows that this is completely wrong, as his distorted black and white men evoke an inexplicable emotion and understanding of our inexplicable yet fortunate randomness in physical world we dwell in. Thus, Antony Gormley’s work is poignant not because of any particular messages he sends out to the audience, but instead, because his work is a provocation, that inevitably leads each individual to think about the human condition both on the physical and emotional levels. Even though his work is simple and straightforward, deeper layers of meaning are clearly present, whether the viewer wishes to explore them in oneself or not.