Anthony Caro (1924–2013), widely regarded as one of the 20th century’s most influential sculptors, is the subject of Pitzhanger’s spring exhibition, opening on what would have been his 99th birthday.
Caro heralded a revolution in sculpture in the 1960s, redefining what sculpture was and what it could be. His abstract constructions in painted steel overturned conventional ideas about materials, methods, surface, scale and space. Architecture was an important source of his inspiration, which he described as “perhaps the purest abstract visual form.”
The exhibition will focus on the resurgence and development of architectural themes within Caro’s sculpture, comprising 16 key works created between 1983–2013. The pieces explore contained space and its relation to the human figure; architectural features such as passages, doors and steps in the form of sculpture; the use of specific materials – notably Caro’s use of coloured Perspex, which echoes Soane’s use of stained glass, as well as steel, wood, concrete, stoneware and brass; and the relationship between exterior and interior areas.
Highlights of the exhibition include The Child’s Tower Room (1983–4), the earliest work on display which breaches the boundaries between sculpture and architecture with spiral steps and hidden chambers, which children will be invited to explore within the exhibition. Autumn Rhapsody (2012–13) reveals Caro, at the end of his life, continuing to develop the language of sculpture with concealed, enclosed spaces that the viewer glimpses through surrounding walls of transparent Perspex. The exhibition’s climax is formed by four large works in which he explored the transition from one place to another. A room devoted to small-scale sculptures will demonstrate the intimate nature of Caro’s architectural language.
Included in the ticket: Tickets provide entry to both Pitzhanger Manor and the exhibition in Pitzhanger Gallery.
Enquires: +44 (0) 20 3985 8888, pitzhanger@pitzhanger.org.uk
Though a polite, tweed-jacketed man of relatively light frame, Caro was a bruiser of a maker. He knocked sculptures off their pedestals and bolted, say, a gobbet of steel to whatever else came to hand with improvisatory glee, from first to last. He never knew what he was doing until he’d done it. That’s what he enjoyed most: the thrill of discovering what his hand and his eye had been up to. Architectural forms enabled him to see and develop his creative potential. Take “Horizon” (Park Avenue Series) of 2012, for example. The ways in which these plates and girders of steel have been clustered and bonded have a precarious and dangerous urban excitement about them. We feel the roar and the teem of the city, forever on the making and the unmaking, on our very pulses.
When a British government minister was recently asked about the future of the UK’s steel industry, she replied, “Nothing is ever a given.” But in the modern world, the need for steel is a given. There is no construction, no vehicle manufacturing, no defence or aviation, no machinery, no trains or bridges without steel. Steel is modernity. Sculptor Anthony Caro knew this well. That’s why his powerful steel works caused such a stir when they first appeared in the early 1960s. It was only when Caro had a solo show at the Whitechapel Gallery in 1961 that his work was given real space. There is still, 60 years on, something radical, strange and enigmatic about his heavy works and, in the show Anthony Caro: The Inspiration of Architecture, in the setting of architect Sir John Soane’s Pitzhanger Manor in west London, they simultaneously shine, intrigue and bear down on the building.
Looking for an awesome London exhibition this March? Here's our roundup of must-see shows in the capital. Here's a chance to see late masterful sculptor Anthoy Caro's painted metal works in a stunning and historic setting. The exhibition explores Caro's innovative use of materials and forms, as well as his contribution to the evolution of modern sculpture. It includes several large-scale installations, including ones that feature steps and doors, and it's a unique opportunity to experience the beauty and depth of Caro's sculptures and how they crossed over into architecture.
