British Indian artist Anish
Kapoor has returned to Italy for the first time in 10 years with
an exhibition of sculpture at the city-run MACRO in Rome.
The show, which runs until April 17, 2017, presents 30 works
by the winner of the 1990 Venice Biennale, including 24 that
have never been exhibited before, offering a reinterpretation of
the theme of flesh and blood.
"It takes time to become an artist, it doesn't happen
immediately," Kapoor says.
"It requires ongoing commitment, a long process involving
doing or not doing something that has meaning. And there musn't
be the fear of failure either. It is all part of the risk that
an artist has to take".
The exhibition at MACRO in Via Nizza includes the imposing
cube Sectional Body Preparing for Monadic Singularity, exhibited
last year at Versailles, and Internal Objects in Three Parts
that has been displayed among the Rembrandts at the Rijksmuseum
in Amsterdam.
Other works on show include Unborn, Hung and Flayed, all from
2016, and the less recent Apocalypse and Millennium and
Gethsemane, both from 2013.
"Meaning doesn't have to be a problem for the artist," Kapoor
says.
"Often I also say I don't have anything to say. The meaning
is revealed in the relationship between the object and the
observer, with the latter becoming an active part of the work."
Kapoor said after 10 years away from Italy, Rome was "the
right opportunity, for me and for these works".
In regards to Brexit, the India-born sculptor who has lived
in the UK for over 40 years said it is necessary to recognise a
"special European connection that allows artists to explore
different cultural possibilities".
The exhibition has cost the city authorities 450,000 euros
and is the first major event at MACRO for some time.
"The museum has suffered from periods of general uncertainty,
including within city management," said culture councillor Luca
Bergamo, adding however that this year the number of visitors
and ticket sales at MACRO have grown.
"The aim is to make the institutions that are involved in
contemporary art in the city cooperate structurally," Bergamo
said.
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