Antony Gormley
Antony Gormley is a prominent British sculptor, renowned for his evocative representations of the human body and explorations of humanity's place in the universe. Born in London in 1950 and raised in a devout Roman Catholic family, Gormley developed an early interest in art, which led him to pursue formal studies at prestigious institutions such as Trinity College, Saint Martin's School of Art, and Goldsmiths. His artistic journey was further enriched by experiences in India and Sri Lanka, where he practiced meditation.
Gormley's work predominantly consists of sculptures created from various materials, including steel, lead, and fiberglass, often modeled on his own body to convey broader themes of human existence and connection to nature. Some of his notable installations include "Bed," made from loaves of bread in 1980, "Field," a collection of thousands of clay figures, and the iconic "Angel of the North," a massive steel sculpture in Gateshead completed in 1998. His installation "Another Place," featuring numerous life-sized figures along Crosby Beach, has garnered attention for its interaction with the natural environment.
Throughout his career, Gormley has received numerous accolades, including the Turner Prize in 1994 and a knighthood in 2014, affirming his significant impact on contemporary British art. He continues to exhibit internationally, prompting conversations about art's role in interpreting and reconnecting with the world. Gormley is also a family man, married to fellow artist Vicken Parsons, with whom he has three children.
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Subject Terms
Antony Gormley
Artist
- Born: August 30, 1950
- Place of Birth: London, England
- Education: Trinity College; Saint Martin's School of Art; Goldsmiths (University of London); Slade School of Fine Art
Significance: Antony Gormley is a British artist best known for sculptures of the human body. Gormley's art explores humans' place in the world and the universe. Gormley was interested in art at a young age and studied art in college. He married a fellow artist and produced many different works throughout his career. Some of his best-known works are Bed (1980), Field (1989), and Angel of the North (1998).
Background
Antony Gormley was born in London, England, in 1950. He was raised in a devout Roman Catholic family. Gormley was interested in art from a young age. He often created drawings and other pieces of art in a shed beside his home. When Gormley was only thirteen years old, he had the opportunity to paint a mural in his school. He also won a number of art contests as a child. His interest in art remained after he graduated, and he received a bachelor's of arts degree from Trinity College at Cambridge University in 1971. He then earned master's degrees from Saint Martin's School of Art and Goldsmiths at the University of London. He also studied at the Slade School of Fine Art. Gormley then spent two years in India and a few months in Sri Lanka, where he practiced meditation in monasteries.
Life's Work
Gormley's experiences away from home helped him develop his own person style. He was very interested in the human body and began creating artwork that showed the body in different forms. Gormley's work was mostly sculpture, and he used many different materials, including steel, lead, and fiberglass. Gormley used those materials to show the human form in many different ways. For example, some of Gormley's sculptures are blocks of metal that are joined together to create a humanlike sculpture. Many of Gormley's sculptures were modeled on his own body. He created casts of his body and then constructed statues using the casts. For that reason, many of Gormley's works are roughly the same size. Even though Gormley uses his own body to create his artworks, he is not interested in the representation of his own likeness. Instead, he believes it is easier to use his own body rather than other bodies.
Gormley's work is interested in humans' place in the world. Gormley realizes that humans are somewhat insignificant in the giant cosmos, and his work relates how humans can be affected by nature and the world. He also points out that people have largely forgotten about nature and their place in it. They are surrounded most of the time by human-made structures rather than by natural objects. Gormley has said that he wants his work to remind people that life is precious and can change in an instant.
In 1980, Gormley created a unique sculpture called Bed. This sculpture was made from roughly six hundred loaves of bread. The loaves were placed together to look somewhat like two beds. Then, Gormley carved out two impressions of his own body in the bread and ate the bread he removed. In 1989, Gormley created another unique piece of art called Field. He created thousands of small clay statues with eyes. The statues fill a portion of the area where the work is constructed. Field has been constructed five different times—including in 2003 in China. He won the Turner Prize in 1994 for Field.
In the late 1990s, Gormley created what would become one of his best-known sculptures. Gateshead in England wanted to commission a piece of art for the city, and officials contacted Gormley after they failed to find a design they liked. When Gormley visited the site where the statue would be built, he realized that he wanted to create a large, dominant piece—which was different from nearly all the previous sculptures he had created. Gormley created an enormous angel from metal. The piece was called Angel of the North. It remains one of his best-known works.
Gormley made another of his famous works in 2005. Another Place is made up of one hundred lifesize statues based on Gormley's naked body on Crosby Beach in Merseyside, England. Some of the cast iron statues have been hit by waves and partially covered as the tide changes. The statues were supposed to be moved to New York in the United States, but they were so popular that they remained. In 2017, some of the statues were vandalized when unknown individuals painted swimsuits and clothing on them. Gormley called for the statues to be removed from the beach so that they would not be targeted again, but they remained. Researchers have even studied how marine life has colonized the works. Though some of the statues toppled when their support piles crumbled, the artist personally oversaw work to reset them starting in 2019.
Gormley's works are exhibited internationally. In 2023, they were shown at the Mus
Impact
Gormley's work has been very important, especially to British art. He was one of the best-known British sculptors in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. He has received the Turner Prize, the Bernhard Heiliger Award for Sculpture, the Obayashi Prize, the Praemium Imperiale, and the South Bank Prize for his work. In 1997, he was named an Officer of the British Empire, and he was made a knight in 2014. Gormley's work was seen as an important development for contemporary art in Great Britain, where modern art did not flourish as it did in some other Western countries. Some people believe that Gormley is so popular because his statues are attractive to people who enjoy modern art and those who enjoy more traditional artwork.
Personal Life
Gormley married Vicken Parsons, a fellow artist with whom he has collaborated, in 1980. The couple has two sons, Ivo and Guy, and one daughter, Paloma.
Bibliography
"Antony Gormley." Tate, www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/antony-gormley-1192. Accessed 10 Oct. 2024.
"Antony Gormley: Biography." Antony Gormley, www.antonygormley.com/biography. Accessed 10 Oct. 2024.
"Antony Gormley: Ten Years of Beach Statues Celebrated." BBC, 6 Sept. 2015, www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-34163062. Accessed 10 Oct. 2024.
Farndale, Nigel. "Antony Gormley: 'I Feel Terribly Misunderstood.'" Telegraph, 3 Dec. 2012, www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-features/9708207/Antony-Gormley-I-feel-terribly-misunderstood.html. Accessed 10 Oct. 2024.
Jones, Alice. "Sir Antony Gormley Interview: 'I Don't Have Any Choice over This: It's What I Was Born to Do.'" Independent, 8 May 2015, www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/sir-antony-gormley-interview-i-don-t-have-any-choice-over-this-its-what-i-was-born-to-do-10236697.html. Accessed 10 Oct. 2024.
Pidd, Helen. "Antony Gormley Hopes Crosby Statues Last 1,000 Years After Reset." The Guardian, 14 June 2021, www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/jun/14/antony-gormley-hopes-crosby-statues-last-1000-years-after-reset. Accessed 10 Oct. 2024.
Sayej, Nadja. "Sculptor Antony Gormley: 'The Selfie Is Charming' but It's a Modern Paradox." Guardian, www.theguardian.com/education/2016/may/09/antony-gormley-sculpture-new-york-exhibit-construct. Accessed 10 Oct. 2024.
Wilson, Robert. "The Body of Antony Gormley." Interview Magazine, 11 May 2016, www.interviewmagazine.com/art/antony-gormley-constructs. Accessed 10 Oct. 2024.
Wroe, Nicholas. "Leader of the Pack." Guardian, 24 June 2005, www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2005/jun/25/art. Accessed 10 Oct. 2024.