Antony Gormley

Courtesy of the artist

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although the overall tonality is deeper in the original. Condition: This work is in very good condition. All surface irregularities are in keeping with the artist's choice of medium and working process.
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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."

The ‘Small Blockworks’ are models for the 1.5 life-size ‘Blockworks’ which attempt to give a strong intimation of the feel of a body using the smallest number of compressed iron blocks. These either sit one on top of the other or side-by-side, whether the figure is standing or crouching. The vertical works counter the stability of a column by cantilever. They attempt to equate instability of build with a mental state, translating haptic bodily sensation into ever more parlous tectonics.

Both the ‘Blockworks’ and ‘Small Blockworks’ use scale to act on the body-consciousness of the viewer. All of the works have an extended foot – the size of the foot is incorporated with the other blocks of the work to integrate a base into the language of the work.

Gormley states “..blockworks describe the space of the body in stacked masses that question its stability. I use the construction language of the built world; pillars and lintels, to evoke the inner condition of the body, treating the body less as a thing than a place.

There is a tension between a suggested symmetry and the actual articulation of a body, so that very slight variations in the alignment of the blocks can be read empathetically as an indication of the total body feeling. These pieces attempt to treat the body as a condition; being, not doing.”