Thaindian News

New Delhi, Nov 3 (IANS) Leading international artist Anish Kapoor will exhibit 25 of his avant garde works in the capital and in Mumbai from Nov 27 in one of the largest-ever retrospective shows of his art outside his home country, Britain.

The three-month exhibition will be presented jointly by the ministry of culture, the National Gallery of Modern Art and the British Council in association with the Lisson Gallery, London.

Announcing the exhibition at a press conference here Wednesday, secretary of culture Jawhar Sircar said: “The exhibition is the first major art collaboration between India and Britain after the signing of a memorandum of understanding to facilitate exchange of culture and arts in July.”

The MoU was signed by Sircar and the British Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sports Jeremy Hunt in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the visit of the British Prime Minister David Cameron to the country.

“We have been working with the cultural institutions in Britain for the last three years to create a woodwork for a greater cultural exchange. This is the first in a series of major art exhibitions that we are planning in collaboration with Britain,” Sircar said.

“The art works, including a public space installation, will be spread across the newly-constructed temperature controlled and pollution free exhibition hall at the National Gallery of Modern Art and the Mehboob Film Studios in Bandra, Mumbai,” NGMA director Rajeev Lochan said.

The art works, which arrived in the capital and Mumbai in 25 huge containers will be mounted by the artist in person, who is due next week.

Kapoor, born in Bombay in 1954, left India in 1973 to study art at the Hornsey College of Art and the Chelsea School of Art Design. He is known for his mammoth sculptures and futuristic installations.

This year, he was chosen as the 2012 Olympic artist in Britain when he was commissioned to design an “iconic visitors’ attraction” at Olympic Park, “The ArcelorMittal Orbit”. The commissioned installation, an abstract “looped and latticed edifice” in steel and iron, symbolised the spirit of the 2012 Olympics and was 22 metres taller than the Statue of Liberty, Lochan said.

Kapoor is known for his use of rich pigments and for imposing installations like “Marsyas” at Tate Modern in London and a pod-like sculpture “Cloud Gate” in Chicago’s Millennium Park.

He was awarded the “Premio Duemila’ at the Venice Biennale in 1990 and the prestigious Turner Prize in 1991.