Master Gormley heads to Bexhill
Make no mistake, attracting Antony Gormley is a huge coup for the De La Warr.
He is arguably the most important artist working in the UK today, and it is conclusive proof, if any more was needed, of the pavilion's place as one of the heavyweight venues in the south east.
There was huge publicity around Gormley's Trafalgar Square fourth plinth project, which saw members of the public take centre stage on the hour every hour for three months.
One and Other cemented his place in the public's cultural conscience.
Predictably it drew breathless gasps of dewy-eyed devotion from the usual arty acolytes, and provided fertile fodder for the "is it art?" brigade.
As usual, the reality fell somewhere between these two extremes, but Gormley certainly got people talking.
In terms of form the One and Other project was a departure for Gormley, who made his name as a sculptor, but he is no stranger to press and public scrutiny, having been behind the equally loved and loathed Angel of the North.
Critical Mass features 60 life size cast iron bodies arranged in various positions over the roof of the De La Warr.
It is how art should be – ambitious, confrontational and ambiguous and Gormley is excited about bringing the work to the unique setting.
"This is the return of the lost subject to the site of modernism," he said.
"It is great to have a chance to test this piece of sculpture against the clarity of Mendelsohn and Chemayeff's English masterpiece. I am excited to see these dark forms in the elements against the sea and in direct light. It will be like a sky burial. How these masses act in space is very important. The challenge is to make the distance intimate, internal."
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Bexhill-on-Sea
Tuesday 14 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 4 C to 8 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 3 C to 9 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: North west
