{"id":1479,"date":"2025-08-21T16:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T16:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beatlesfansunite.com\/?p=1479"},"modified":"2025-08-26T15:59:59","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T15:59:59","slug":"architecture-converges-with-the-human-form-in-antony-gormleys-body-buildings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.beatlesfansunite.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/21\/architecture-converges-with-the-human-form-in-antony-gormleys-body-buildings\/","title":{"rendered":"Architecture Converges with the Human Form in Antony Gormley\u2019s \u2018Body Buildings\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Architecture<\/p>\n

In Edinburgh, along a stream known as the Water of Leith, six bronze figures known as \u201c6 TIMES\u201d stand amid the current and beside bridges, peering enigmatically down the urban waterway. Similarly, in Liverpool, \u201cAnother Place\u201d comprises 100 life-size sculptures made from 17 molds that artist Antony Gormley<\/a> (previously<\/a>) took from his own body, installed permanently along Crosby Beach. In fact, the artist has dozens of permanent installations<\/a> throughout the U.K. and all over the world, the majority of which interact with shorelines, parkland, and historic sites.<\/p>\n

Gormley has long been fascinated by the relationship between humans, landscape, and the built environment. While many of his figurative sculptures retain natural, muscular curvatures and a true-to-life scale, he also ventures into abstract territory, incorporating cubist and brutalist elements into geometric, three-dimensional forms. In spite of their blockiness, which we associate with built structures of rigid materials like concrete and steel, his pieces are anything but soulless.<\/p>\n

\"an
\u201cResting Place II\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gormley\u2019s recent solo exhibition, Body Buildings<\/em> at Galleria Continua<\/a> in Beijing, ran from November 2024 and April 2025 and forms the basis of a new monograph of the same title. Forthcoming from SKIRA<\/a>, the volume is slated for release on October 7.<\/p>\n

Using terracotta clay and iron for pieces like \u201cResting Place II\u201d and \u201cButtress,\u201d Gormley taps into materials often found in construction in the form of bricks or angular frameworks. He describes his approach as a means \u201cto think and feel the body in this condition.\u201d Whether arranged on the floor in various positions or leaning against walls, his figures are simultaneously independent of the architecture and indelibly connected to it. \u201cButtress,\u201d for example, prompts us to inquire whether the wall is holding up the person or the other way around.<\/p>\n

New scholarship published in Body Buildings<\/em> by Hou Hanru and Stephen Greenblatt explores Gormley\u2019s engagement with China over the course of the past three decades. And a photo essay by the artist traces his interactions with the region, sharing never-before-seen archival photographs that document a 1995 research trip, where he visited the phenomenal army of terracotta warriors<\/a> in Qin Shi Huang\u2019s tomb in Xi\u2019an.<\/p>\n

Pre-order your copy of Body Buildings<\/em> on Bookshop<\/a>, and explore more of Gormley\u2019s work on his website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"a
\u201cButtress\u201d (2023), cast iron, 176.8 x 54.5 x 67.2 centimeters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
Detail of \u201cResting Place II\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
\u201cShame\u201d (2023), cast iron, 161.7 x 59 x 42.9 centimeters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
Detail of \u201cResting Place II\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
Detail of \u201cResting Place II\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Detail of \u201cResting Place II\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
\u201cCircuit\u201d (2022), cast iron, 29.3 x 201.3 x 122.4 centimeters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"people
Installation view of Detail of \u201cResting Place II\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member<\/a> today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Architecture Converges with the Human Form in Antony Gormley\u2019s \u2018Body Buildings\u2019<\/a> appeared first on Colossal<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Edinburgh, along a stream known as the Water of Leith, six bronze figures known […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1481,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.beatlesfansunite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1479"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.beatlesfansunite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.beatlesfansunite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.beatlesfansunite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.beatlesfansunite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1479"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.beatlesfansunite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1492,"href":"http:\/\/www.beatlesfansunite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1479\/revisions\/1492"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.beatlesfansunite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.beatlesfansunite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.beatlesfansunite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.beatlesfansunite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}