Anish Kapoor

Lisson Gallery, London
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although the stone colour is slightly warmer in the original. The illustration also fails to convey the depth of the chamber. Condition: This work is in very good condition. There are a few very light surface scratches to the bottom of the red chamber, visible only under close inspection. There is a faint rub mark to the centre right of the extreme bottom edge of the red side.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

"Colour is a real transformer. It changes things very directly..." Anish Kapoor cited in: Claire Farrow, 'Anish Kapoor, Theatre of Lightness, Space and Intimacy', Art and Design¸ London, no. 33, 1993, p. 53

Anish Kapoor's celebrated body of work occupies a unique position in the diverse field of contemporary sculpture. Rooted in myth and the unknowable mysteries of the universe, it breathes life into inanimate forms and raw materials, endowing them with new meaning, force and energy. Kapoor's works function on a micro as well as macro, symbolic level, transcending cultural boundaries and academic concerns in his transformation of object and space through the ritual of art.

At the heart of Kapoor's sculptural practice lies the desire to re-work and quantify the known fabric of human existence, whilst seeking to explore the forces and mythologies that control it. He does this specifically through defining the conflicting characteristics of an enclosed space, and transforming that space into a locum for contemplation and reflection. Crucially his sculptures although manipulated and finished to a degree of sublime perfection, always contain a sense of inner completeness. This sense of a self-fulfilling existence, outside of human parameters, witnesses a coming together of the heavenly and the earthly, of the human and the divine. It is something Kapoor had sought in his first mature works – the earliest powder pieces such as 1000 Names - and which he has continued to evolve in numerous subsequent series. "With the early powder pieces," explains Kapoor, "one of the things I was trying to do was to arrive at something which was as if unmade, as if self-manifest, as if there by its own volition." (the artist cited in: Constance Lewallen, 'Interview with Anish Kapoor, Japan, September, 1990', View, Vol. II, no. 4, San Francisco 1991)

Kapoor's use of pure, brightly hued pigment in these first mature works as "a source of light" marked the beginning his interest in the resonance of colour and its infinite symbolism. They also introduced the play of opposites between light and dark, inner and outer, past, present and future, defining a moment of transition as if between two worlds. This contrast between opposing realms evolved subsequently into works that combined dense, luminous pigment and rough hewn stone; a journey that inspired  some of Kapoor's most iconic sculptures such as Adam, 1988-9, (Tate Collection, London) and It is Man, 1989-90, (Museo National Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid). Like these monumental works, which can be regarded as the ancestors of the present sculpture, Untitled makes an urgent, bodily connection with the viewer and their surrounding space. Full of conscious and unconscious vitality, the flow of energy between the starkly contrasted surfaces of the stone, and the vibrant yellow and red pigments, establishes a dialogue between inner and outer, day and night, male and female, active and passive, life and death.

Rooted in its physicality, the visual orchestration of the present work is based on a harmony of these opposing elements and their co-existence in the same space and materials. Its earthy surface has an aura of deeper purpose within its luminous core; one that displays the dual conditions of presence and absence, which like Lucio Fontana's 'Concetto Spaziale', inspires in the viewer contemplation of the infinite. Describing his work, Kapoor explains: "Notions about illusion are quite central. This is where I have a curios overlap with painting in that the space of painting is the space of illusion. I seem to be making sculpture about the space beyond, illusory space." (the artist cited in: Marjorie Allthorpe-Guyton, 'Mostly Hidden' in Exhibition Catalogue, London, British Council for the XLIV Venice Biennale, Anish Kapoor, 1990, p. 46)