Anish Kapoor facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sir Anish Kapoor
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Kapoor in 2017
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| Born |
Anish Mikhail Kapoor
12 March 1954 Bombay, India
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| Nationality | Indian, British |
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| Known for | Sculpture |
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Notable work
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| Spouse(s) |
Susanne Spicale
(m. 1995; div. 2013)Sophie Walker
(m. 2016; div. 2023)Oumaima Boumoussaoui
(m. 2023) |
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Sir Anish Kapoor (born March 12, 1954) is a famous British-Indian sculptor. He creates amazing art that often involves large installations and deep ideas. Born in Mumbai, India, he later moved to the United Kingdom to study art.
Some of his most well-known sculptures include Cloud Gate (also called "The Bean") in Chicago. He also created Sky Mirror, which has been shown in New York City and London. Another famous work is ArcelorMittal Orbit, a huge sculpture built for the Olympic Park in London. In 2017, he even designed the award statuette for the Brit Awards.
Anish Kapoor has received many important awards for his art. These include the Turner Prize in 1991 and a knighthood in 2013. This means he is now called "Sir Anish Kapoor."
Contents
Anish Kapoor's Early Life and Art Training
Anish Kapoor was born in Mumbai, India. His mother was from an Iraqi Jewish family, and his father was Indian. He went to a boarding school for boys in India called The Doon School.
In 1971, he moved to Israel with one of his brothers. He started studying electrical engineering, but he found it too hard. After six months, he decided he wanted to be an artist instead. In 1973, he moved to Britain to study art at Hornsey College of Art and Chelsea School of Art and Design. He has lived and worked in London since the 1970s.
Anish Kapoor's Artistic Journey
Anish Kapoor became well-known in the 1980s for his sculptures. He used simple materials like stone, plaster, and bright powder pigments. His early works were often simple, curved shapes with one color. He would use powder to make them look like they were partly hidden or emerging from the ground.
In the late 1980s and 1990s, Kapoor started exploring ideas of space and emptiness. Many of his sculptures seem to disappear or change the space around them. He began working with stone, carving holes and spaces that played with ideas like light and darkness, or what is seen and unseen.
Since 1995, he has used shiny, polished stainless steel. These sculptures are like mirrors, reflecting and bending the people and places around them. Over time, his sculptures became even bigger and more complex. He created huge works like Taratantara (1999) and Marsyas (2002), which filled large spaces.
Kapoor also uses red wax in his art. This material can make people think of flesh or blood. In 2007, he created Svayambh, a large block of red wax that moved on rails through a museum. It slowly changed shape as it moved. Some of Kapoor's art also mixes with architecture. For example, in 2008, he made Memory, a large piece of rusty steel that viewers could walk inside.
In 2009, Kapoor was the first living artist to have a solo exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. This show included new works, like Shooting into the Corner. This piece used a cannon to fire wax pellets into a corner, slowly building up a new shape.
In 2011, Kapoor's work Leviathan was shown in Paris. He wanted to create a space inside a space, inviting visitors to walk inside and be surrounded by color. Another work, Dirty Corner, was a huge steel tunnel that became darker as you walked through it, making you rely on your other senses.
In 2018, Kapoor had a disagreement with the National Rifle Association of America (NRA). They had used an image of his sculpture Cloud Gate in a video without his permission. The issue was resolved, and the image was removed from their video.
Major Public Artworks
Anish Kapoor has created many large sculptures for public spaces. These are often called "public commissions."
- Sky Mirror (2001): A large mirror sculpture that reflects the sky. It was first placed outside the Nottingham Playhouse in England.
- Cloud Gate (2006): Also known as "The Bean," this 110-ton stainless steel sculpture is in Millennium Park in Chicago. People can walk under it and see their reflections.
- Sky Mirror (2006): A second, larger version was installed at Rockefeller Center in New York City.
- Earth Cinema (2009): For a national park in Italy, Kapoor created a 45-meter-long cut into the landscape. It's a concrete and earth tunnel that people can walk through.
- Temenos (2010): This huge sculpture is 50 meters tall and 110 meters long. It's made of steel wire mesh stretched between two large steel hoops.
- Turning the World Upside Down, Jerusalem (2010): This 16-foot tall polished-steel hourglass sculpture is at the Israel Museum. It reflects and flips the sky and the museum's surroundings.
- ArcelorMittal Orbit (2012): This sculpture was chosen for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. At 115 meters tall, it is the tallest sculpture in the UK.
Architectural Art Projects
Kapoor has also worked with architects to create art that is part of buildings. He sees these projects as a mix of sculpture and architecture.
Some of his architectural projects include:
- Ark Nova: An inflatable concert hall designed to travel to areas in Japan affected by earthquakes.
- Orbit: The famous sculpture for London's Olympic Park.
- Temenos: One of the Tees Valley Giants sculptures.
- Dismemberment Site 1: A large sculpture installed at the Gibbs Farm sculpture park in New Zealand.
- Projects for subway stations in Naples, Italy, where he wanted to make the underground spaces feel dark and like a "sock."
Stage Design
Anish Kapoor has also designed sets for plays and operas. He designed the sets for the opera Idomeneo in 2003 and a dance-theatre piece called in-i in London.
Anish Kapoor's Exhibitions and Collections
Anish Kapoor first started showing his art as part of the "New British Sculpture" movement. His first solo show was in Paris in 1980. He became widely recognized when he represented Britain at the Venice Biennale in 1990.
His art has been shown in many major museums around the world. These include the Tate Modern in London, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain, and the National Gallery of Canada. In 2009, his exhibition at the Royal Academy in London attracted 275,000 visitors.
In 2010, Kapoor had his first exhibitions in his birth country, India, at the National Gallery of Modern Art. In 2020, he had a large outdoor exhibition at Houghton Hall in Norfolk, UK, featuring 21 sculptures.
Kapoor's work is collected by museums all over the world. Some of these include the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Tate Modern in London, and the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
Anish Kapoor's Personal Life
Anish Kapoor has been married three times. He has children from his first two marriages. He lives and works in London.
Awards and Honours
Anish Kapoor has received many important awards for his contributions to art:
Artistic Awards
- 1990 Premio Duemila, Venice Biennale
- 1991 Turner Prize
- 1999 Elected Royal Academician
- 2011 Praemium Imperiale
Civilian Honours
- 2003 Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
- 2011 French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
- 2012 Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian honour
- 2013 Knighthood (He became "Sir Anish Kapoor")
Honorary Degrees
- 1997 London Institute
- 1997 University of Leeds
- 1999 University of Wolverhampton
- 2001 Royal Institute of British Architects
Other Recognitions
- 2016 LennonOno Grant for Peace
- 2017 Genesis Prize
Images for kids
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Turning the World Upside Down, Israel Museum, 2010
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ArcelorMittal Orbit, London Olympic Park, 2012
See also
In Spanish: Anish Kapoor para niños
- Scheps v Fine Art Logistic Ltd
