Antony Gormley

OBJECT WORKS, 1981 - 1985

After NATURAL SELECTION, there was a continuing exploration of object morphology in FIVE FISHES and of time in objects such as ONE APPLE, that extends the idea of growth in FULL BOWL. TWELVE HOURS is an abstract work that takes the form of a snake that starts thin, gets bigger and then gets thinner again, and was made in twelve sections. NIGHT continues the theme of hidden internal darkness as a source of possibility.

VEHICLE, the largest of the object works, is a one-man glider entirely covered in lead. It is an attempt to make a physical object into a dream space: flights of the imagination conflating with extensions of the body. REFUGE was made from the largest single ballistic bullet ever made: in roughly human scale. SEEDS is a pile of .45 calibre bullets, each can be seen as an agency of passing one life into another state.

Download text
FIVE FISHES

FIVE FISHES, 1981
Lead, sword, fish, artillery, shell, truncheon, cucumber, Length of Fish: 70 cm
Arts Council Collection, England

ONE APPLE

ONE APPLE, 1982
Apples, lead, 7 x 1110 x 7 cm

UNTITLED [11 BOWLS]

UNTITLED [11 BOWLS], 1984
Lead, 54cm

HAT AND BOTTLE

HAT AND BOTTLE, 1985
Lead, Bottle: 20 cm high 14 cm diam, Hat: 33 cm diam 9 cm deep

REFUGE

REFUGE, 1985
Lead, fibreglass, air, 172 x 46 x 46 cm

12 HOURS: THE BEGINNING THE MIDDLE THE END, 1985 - 1986

12 HOURS: THE BEGINNING THE MIDDLE THE END, 1985 - 1986
Lead, fibreglass, plaster, air, 23 x 28 x 840 cm

VEHICLE

VEHICLE, 1987
Lead, fibreglass, wood, steel, air, 147 x 750 x 1520 cm
Installation at Salvatore Ala Gallery, New York
Photograph by Joseph Coscia Jr.

ISLANDS

ISLANDS, 1987
Lead/vegetables/organs, Largest Unit: 9 x 16 x 13 cm

SEEDS II

SEEDS II, 1987
Lead, Unit size: 3.5 x 1.1 cm diam