Antony Gormley

Sculptor Antony Gormley (born 1950) has become a household name, particularly in his native Britain, thanks to his prominent public installations and major solo shows. Awarded the Turner Prize in 1994, he was knighted in 2014. From The Angel of the North (1998) to the hundred cast-iron life-size human figures that populate Crosby Beach in Liverpool (Another Place, 2007), Gormley makes works that explore the human body and its relationship to space. As Gormley put it, “I've never been interested in making statues. But I have been interested in asking what is the nature of the space a human being inhabits. What I try to show is the space where the body was, not to represent the body itself.”

A new, authoritative survey, Antony Gormley focuses on recent work by one of the best-known and most respected sculptors working today. In this volume, a diverse range of contributors bring excitingly multidisciplinary perspectives to bear on Gormley’s oeuvre. Leading scientist and writer on cosmology Priyamvada Natarajan explores the role of space and light in Gormley’s work. Michael Newman places Gormley within the British sculptural tradition, while the novelist Jeanette Winterson explores her personal response to Gormley’s sculpture. Finally, art historian and curator Martin Caiger-Smith introduces Gormley’s new body of work, exploring the roots of Gormley’s practice and the role that public sculpture can play in the 21st century.