Anish Kapoor in Berlin

In his first major exhibition in the German capital, Anish Kapoor invades the ground floor of the Martin-Gropius-Bau with 70 of his works, some of which specially designed for the venue.

In his first major exhibition in Berlin, Anish Kapoor has invaded the ground floor of the Martin-Gropius-Bau with about 70 works — some of which developed specially for this venue — providing a survey of his abstract poetic work from 1982 to the present.

Top: Anish Kapoor, Symphony for a Beloved Sun, installation view at the Martin-Gropius-Bau, 2013. Photo by Jens Ziehe. Courtesy of the artist. © Anish Kapoor / VG Bildkunst, Bonn, 2013. Above: Anish Kapoor, Shooting into the Corner, 2008-2009. © Anish Kapoor / VG Bildkunst, Bonn, 2013. Photo by Nic Tenwiggenhorn

Mumbai-born Kapoor seeks in his work to constantly reinvent the language of art, both in its monumental and in its intimate dimensions, and the many dualities which come to light in his search for aesthetic effects both in perfection and in chaos. His creations are made of natural and artificial materials. They serve Kapoor’s endlessly inventive and suggestive pursuit of abstract metaphor.

Anish Kapoor, Symphony for a Beloved Sun, installation view at the Martin-Gropius-Bau, 2013. Photo by Jens Ziehe. Courtesy of the artist. © Anish Kapoor / VG Bildkunst, Bonn, 2013

For the atrium of the exhibition gallery, Kapoor has designed Symphony for a Beloved Sun, a new sculpture whose form and materiality are in the tradition of El Lissitzky. Other works on display include White Sand, Red Millet, Many Flowers (1982), which draws inspiration from India, featuring objects reminiscent of the decorative elements in Indian temples or Buddhist stupas covered with thick layers of gleaming pigment powder in red, yellow and black; Descent into Limbo (1992), a seemingly bottomless black hole in the middle of a walk-in cube redesigned specifically for the Martin-Gropius-Bau; and Vertigo (2008), one of Kapoor's mirror structures which turn the world on its head, by displaying several perspectives — the visitor sees himself in close-up and from a great distance — simultaneously in one reflection.

Anish Kapoor, Up Down Shadow, 2005. © Anish Kapoor / VG Bildkunst, Bonn, 2013. Photo by Dave Morgan. Courtesy of the artist

Through 24 November 2013
Kapoor in Berlin
Martin-Gropius-Bau

Niederkirchnerstraße 7, Berlin