The presentation of Anish Kapoor’s sculptures at the Centre for Polish Sculpture in Orońsko will be the first exhibition in Poland of one of the masters of contemporary sculpture and will bring his work closer to the Polish public. Kapoor creates abstract forms in the most diverse materials: stone, stainless steel, pigment, wood, resins, plastic and cement.

For the exhibition in Orońsko, the artist proposed 9 stone sculptures for the space of the Museum of Contemporary Sculpture and 3 objects for the Orangery. This personal choice is a sign of the artist’s great goodwill towards the idea of an exhibition in Poland – while preparing for the Polish exhibition, Kapoor was busy working on a prestigious presentation at the Gallerie dell’ Accademia in Venice, accompanying this year’s Biennale. The exhibition will be open to the public from 1 October.

The exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Sculpture will consist of massive, sculpturally developed stone blocks made of granite, Vigaria marble, Kilkenny limestone, and honey and pink Iranian onyx. This is a strictly sculptural presentation – an outstanding overview of stone sculpture and the extraordinary beauty of the natural materials from which it was made.

Kapoor’s abstract yet biomorphic forms reflect his interest in the sensual corporeality of rounded and writhing surfaces, clearances and voids. The works exhibited at the Orangery develop the same themes in soft and plastic materials – wax and resins.

Anish Kapoor was born on 12 March 1954 in Mumbai and has lived and worked in London since the mid-1970s. His best-known achievement is the 2006 stutonic ‘Cloud Gate’ in Chicago’s Millenium Park. “Cloud Gate” is considered one of the pinnacles of sculpture in public space and at the same time represents the main features of Kapoor’s work: momentum of realisation, technical perfection, technological innovation and interest in optical illusion.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński