Antony Gormley Visual & Performing Arts Essay Paper

ANTONY GORMLEY
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The Biographical Background
Before Antony Gormley ventured in art, he was pursuing anthropology at an Indian college and was almost changing to become a Buddhist cleric. In 1981, Gormley started his professional career as a sculptor through a solo exhibition that happened at the famous “WhiteChapel Art Gallery” to mark his maiden entrance in the art world. His works use the human body as the main subject. He uses his body to make different works based on metal casts. The primary attempt that his works tend to pursue is treating the human body as a place that encircles the space needed for a specified body to facilitate the identification of a universal condition to all humans. The work is usually indexical because it traces real events or bodies in the present times. It is validated that Gormley has an interesting character beyond his art works that possibly describes his creativity in using the human body, the community and space to pass articulate messages to the fanatics and enthusiasts of his works. He has a modern studio called “King’s Cross studio” that has many art works that use his body as the embodiment for the art. These works have heavy body casts that are situated in different posses while other versions are pixelated. They constitute many metal blocks and steel rods that cover a void that tales the human shape.
Gormley has tremendously developed his artistic prowess through the years by casting a legion of people and implementing community projects. The “Turner Prize” in 1994 with an OBE catapulted his prominence to a global scale. “Angel of he North” and “Field” are among his monumental works that increased his fame in the art world in consideration of his moderately unique artistic style. These works have gained massive fame in the contemporary art world for their exceptionally great styles and message across the intended audience.
Richard Noble has hailed Antony Gormley as an exceptional sculptor whose main influence originated from the post-minimalist art works. Walter de Maria, Richard Serra and Robert Smithson are among the artists that hugely influenced Gormely. His artistry is deemed as expansive because it does not confine to a specified art school. Gormely’s primary area of artistic focus is on works that demonstrate the relationship between space and sculpture. He came up with a unique style that no artist can claim as theirs due to the creativity input that he used. His career trajectory has, therefore, shown the distinction compared to other ancient and contemporary artists. Gormely has participated in a continuous project since the sunrise years of 1980s that has produced unimaginable success. The sustenance of a great reputation through the years is an uphill task that Gormely has disapproved with his constant introduction of more creature works since his outset in the industry.
A Description of Two Works by Antony Gormley
Angel of the North, 1998 by Antony Gormley
Antony created this blockbuster artwork that garnered him massive fame across the entire art world. It is an exceptionally crafted artwork that was made to demand time in time with an unmatched beauty that attracts the attention of any enthusiast of art. The main reason behind the creation was demonstrating hope during a turbulent time when the North East people were in a transition. It was a transformation from the industrial era to the information ages.
Primarily, Gormley used Corten steel to make the work. It weighs 200 tonnes with its foundation having 500 tonnes of concrete. After the Lower Tyne Colliery’s closure, he created the mound that was adjacent to the A1 motorway, which was a designated site for the existence of the culture. It was out of the dreaded and destroyed remains that the pithead baths had left. It marked the zenith of the grave coal mining practice in Great Britain.
However, the sculpture denies the amnesia associated with the post-industrial era. It also acts as the evidence that reveals the millions of...