top: outside the Hayward Gallery, photo - melissa
middle: 'Blind Light' at the Hayward Gallery, photo- antonygormley.com
bottom: 'Event Horizon' Madison Square Park (look up!), photo - James Ewing
Though it is not the first installation of this type he has erected, British artists and 1981 Turner prize winner Antony Gormley is treating New Yorkers to an extraordinary treat this summer. In the blocks surrounding Madison Square Park, passers-by are invited to look around, and up, to engage with the 31 Gormley-sized sculptures installed on the streets and buildings. The use of such a figure, often seen in silhouette, is intriguing in a populated area where one rarely takes notice of the surrounding throngs. Once viewers begin to look, however, they can hardly stop. As Gormley himself notes: "Beyond those you can actually see, how many more remain out of sight?" (March 2010) Perception, and curiosity, is heightened through such an exercise.
The first version of 'Event Horizon' was installed in London in 2007 accompanied by the most stirring exhibition I have yet to see. Though the entire gallery was extraordinary, the namesake for the show was 'Blind Light,' pictured above. Imagine trapping a cloud and confining it in a space that is too small to let it breathe then entering that space. This is the experience of Blind Light. Inside sounds are distant, yet over the shoulder; people are separated, yet on the verge of collision. Never have I felt the intense excitement of anonymity and isolation in this way. Gormley's works, whether on or in a building, force viewers to question their own sense of space. Stand out or be anonymous? Engage or blend? To consider one's position and the position of others in the world is essentially our modern condition.
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