Antony Gormley: Field for the British Isles
15 November 2002 – 26 January 2003
www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk
Antony Gormley is in an enviable position: unlike other contemporary artists whose work is derided and whose names provoke apoplexy, he is regarded with heroic affection. His mute, monumental figures are elegant hieroglyphs of the human condition – perfect metaphors of the body as a vessel for the soul. Whilst looking contemporary, they manage to distil the entire history of human sculptural self-representation into their cool forms.
I fancy Field for the British Isles is his
best-loved work. Whilst these clay figures carry none of the grandiose
aspirations of Angel of the North, their diminutive size lends them a
cuteness that wins everyone over. Sure, they reference the big metaphysical
issues – ‘from dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return’ – but there’s
something about this work that makes me think, every time I see it, that I’m
looking at Gormley-Lite. I mean no disrespect as I like the work; it just
leaves me a little suspicious.
The British Museum installation is different from previous viewings in that
the figures do not appear to be colonising an art gallery. The bland,
semicircular exhibition space upstairs in the Great Court, which proved such
a dismal venue for the Cleopatra show earlier this year, works surprisingly
well for Field. From the viewing ‘doorway’, where the little cuties stand
peering up from your feet, they are stretched out in their thousands as if
marching towards you from the horizon. The space itself doesn’t compete for
attention with the figures, which in turn leaves them looking a lot less
menacing. The accompanying booklet draws easy parallels with clay figures
from Jericho, Mohenjodaro, Egypt, Greece, etc., but this just makes Field a
marketing tool for the BM’s collections.
Field for the British Isles occupies an iconic place in the story of modern British sculpture, but if you visit the British Museum before 21 April be sure to see Antony Gormley Drawing in Room 90. Whereas Field testifies to the success of possibly the biggest co-operative sculptural workshop in recent years, Drawing actually captures the essence of being an artist.
David Gleeson