joseph scissorhands

Sunday, 25 May 2025

Antony Gormley: Witness - Early Lead Works

Antony Gormley - Witness II, 1993

‘I have always thought of the darkness of the body as being equivalent to the darkness of the universe.’ - Antony Gormley.

Antony Gormley's sculpted figures have become so ubiquitous, and pieces such as The Angel of The North 1998, are recognised globally and held in much affection by the public. Gormley was feted with a large retrospective of his career to date at the Royal Academy of Art in 2019 (here), but this current show goes back to the beginnings of Gormley's career and is made up exclusively of pieces from that period of the 1970s and 80s. We see how Gormley used both found objects and then his own body in his sculpture, and the material of lead to embody a sense of vulnerability, space and presence. In the piece titled Natural Selection 24 lead-encased objects – 12 natural, 12 human-made – are arranged along the gallery floor in descending scale, from the largest, a sphere, to the smallest, a pea-sized form. At the midpoint of this scale meet two near-identical shapes – a goose egg and a grenade – compares similarities in the natural and man-made. Other pieces such as Land Sea and Air I, see lead used to create three rock-like structures. The first wraps and encloses an actual granite rock found on a visit to Ireland's west coast, whilst the second holds water, and the last of the trio of leaden rock forms contains air. The elements are transformed becoming hidden from the viewer transposing them 'from substance to imagination: from matter to mind' as Gormley states. Another transformation occurs when the artist takes 45mm lead handgun bullets which are piled on the floor resembling a mound of grain ready to be planted. Easily the most recognisable of the early works here though are the ones in which Gormley allowed his own body having struck a series of poses to be cast in lead. Descending the stairs to the lower gallery and encountering Gormley's Close I figure, provokes a shock response as it is spread-eagled on the floor in front of you and appears so vulnerable and prone. Your mind can't help but strike up narratives as to why this figure has come to be in this position. Was the figure caught in a criminal act and then been ordered to assume the position by security or police? Was it involved in an accident perhaps, or been the victim of something darker like foul play? The piece asks so many questions. Witness II appears completely self-absorbed, brooding and emotionally unavailable, closed to the world, yet determinedly holding and occupying space. Untitled (Listening Figure) similarly occupies space though with a cupped hand to an ear engaged in the act of listening. Gormley took his inspiration for this sculpture from the 11th-century Tibetan siddha Milarepa, who would ‘listen for the echo of his own voice rebounding across mountain valleys from his Himalayan cave in Nyalam’. Strangest of these figurative sculptures is Home and the World II, a striding figure with an elongated girder-like structure in the form of a house for a head. It speaks of the basic human need for a base and shelter and yet man's yearning for travel and the need for exploration. The exhibition concludes with a selection of Gormley's always fascinating drawings. This aspect of his practice appears to be a vital to him as an artist, and the results are always fascinating regardless of whatever medium they are executed in. These early figures are iconic and those which sealed Gormley's reputation, and those from which he would go on to push the envelope further, starkly reducing the figure to a series of blocks or lines, but never giving way completely to abstraction. The sculptures are always recognisable as the human form in one way or another, and always examining the human condition.

Land Sea and Air I (1977–79)

Natural Selection, 1981

Seeds II, 1989/93

Shield II (1978)

Mask (1978)

Close I, 1992

Untitled (Sleeping Figure), 1983

Home and the World II, 1986-96

Witness II, 1993

Blanket Drawing I (1983)

Untitled (Listening Figure), 1983

Ransom II, 1986

As Above So Below I, 1986

Antony Gormley: WITNESS - Early Lead Works

until 8th June

White Cube Mason's Yard

25-26 Mason's Yard

London

SW1Y

Sunday, 18 May 2025

Amoako Boafo: I Do Not Come to You by Chance

Amoako Boafo - Shoulder Stand, 2023

"The primary idea of my practice is representation, documenting, celebrating and showing new ways to approach Blackness... I make paintings that allow me to celebrate where I come from and what I aspire to be, while sharing unique perspectives and understanding."
— Amoako Boafo.

Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) - Prince William NII Nortey Dowuona, 1897

At last. At long last. Finally, the chance to experience the paintings of Ghanaian artist Amoako Boafo face-to-face at a branch of his gallerist Gagosian in London. I have been watching Boafo's meteoric ascent in the art world and the stratospheric prices achieved at auction as buyers vie to get his paintings in the secondary market. It was an absolute pleasure then to finally get to take the paintings in, in the actual at Gagosian Grosvenor Hill. They are large figurative portrait paintings of black men and women whose skin textures are executed in tactile expressionistic paintwork created mostly by the artists' fingers which have been dipped in paint as well as brushes. Boafo's paintings are part of the canon of works redressing the imbalance of previously marginalised or overlooked black artists whose talents are now being recognised and given the opportunity to shine in major museums and galleries. Other notables in this respect include Kehinde Wiley (here), Jennifer Packer (here), Lynette Yiadom-Boakye (here), Kerry James Marshall (here and here), and Tavares Strachan who likewise also examine the black figure. Although rooted in blackness and a challenge to the objectification of black subjects in the history of Western art, one of the most immediate things that struck me about Boafo's paintings were the stylistic and compositional similarities to the works of Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele. Boafo trained in Vienna and is now resident there, so perhaps could not resist absorbing elements of those two masters so synonymous with the artistic history of Vienna into his aesthetic. What is particularly interesting to me personally on seeing this exhibition and making the connections between the works of Klimt and Boafo, is doing so in the light of the recent discovery of a long-lost Klimt painting of a black African prince and representative of Ghanaian people. It is a sensitive, beautifully executed portrait of the prince in profile with loosely rendered florals in the background and decorative textile draped over his shoulder. Klimt painted the portrait in 1897, and it foreshadows his later work in which he would combine strong figuration with decorative and abstract elements. I would love to know Boafo's thoughts on the significance of this new discovery especially with the subject of the portrait hailing from his very own homeland. Amoako Boafo: I Do Not Come to You By Chance, is the title of this exhibition which takes its name from the title of Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani's 2009 novel. On entering the exhibition visitors encounter an interesting black pavilion-type wooden assemblage which apparently is a reconstruction of the courtyard complex of Boafo's childhood home. It is an impressive construction designed by architect Glenn DeRoche which must have been costly to erect and must surely represent the faith Gagosian have in Boafo as an artist. The courtyard houses a quartet of his portrait paintings, the most striking of which is White Lace Cape, 2025, in which a black woman imperiously, hands on hips, stares out of the canvas directly at the viewer. Again similarities cannot help but be made between certain of Klimt's powerful female portraits. In Amidst Tulips, 2025, also has a certain likeness, to my eyes at least, with Amy Sherald's famous and popular portrait of Michelle Obama. There is another built construction further into the exhibition installed to evoke a domestic setting with seating and a table on which are placed playing/tarot cards peopled with Boafo's figures. Boafo exploits the decorative possibilities of lace on his figures contrasting the delicate patterns against the swirling textures of the subjects skin. Another trait of the artist in this series of works is the use of pearl necklaces upon his models. He even depicts himself in pearls riding his bike, and lounging on a patterned sofa challenging prevailing notions about black masculinity. Surprising as it is that it has taken so long for there to be a show of Boafo's work in the UK, on the strength of this showing I don't think it will be his last.