Turning the World Inside Out

Location

Country: Germany
City: Berlin
Place: British Embassy

A freestanding shiny giant ball reflects and distorts the viewer and the surrounding space. The sphere bears a concave indentation at the top of the sculpture. This has the effect of enhancing the perception of its form – raising the question of its depth, solidity or hollowness, emptiness or fullness. This visual conundrum heightens the viewer’s awareness of their physical position in relation to the sculpture, creating a sense of disorientation. Anish Kapoor once commented:

 

I have always been drawn towards some notion of fear in a very visual sense, towards sensations of falling, of being pulled inwards, of losing one’s sense of self.

 

Like many of his sculptural works, Turning the World Inside Out explores the ambiguities and complexities of space in a playful, yet intriguing manner. It is one of an edition of five stainless steel works.

 

Born in India, Kapoor’s work is influenced by both eastern and western cultures. His experience of India, fused with an interest in Jungian psychoanalytic theory has contributed towards the development of his work. In much of his work we are encouraged to meditate on the nature of opposites: male and female; matter and void; darkness and light.

Anish Kapoor was born in Bombay in 1954 and has lived in London since the early 1970s. He studied at Hornsey College of Art and Chelsea School of Art and Design. In 1990 he represented Britain at the Venice Biennale and in 1991 he won the Turner Prize. His works have been exhibited widely on an international scale and are in numerous public collections. Kapoor had a large solo show at the Hayward Gallery in London in 1998 and in 2003, his work Marsyas was installed at Tate Modern in London, where it spanned the entire length of the Turbine Hall. For the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Kapoor has designed a monumental spiral sculpture which will feature as a major landmark in the Olympic Park.

Places

Subjects

ball, abstract, allegory & symbolism

Materials & Techniques

stainless steel, sculpture (as object name), stainless steel sculpture

Artist

Anish Kapoor (1954 - )

Title

Turning the World Inside Out

Edition

artist's proof No.1

Date

1995

Medium

Stainless steel sculpture

Dimensions

height: 148.00 cm, width: 184.00 cm, depth: 188.00 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from Lisson Gallery, March 1998

Provenance

The artist; purchased from the Lisson Gallery 1998.

GAC number

17320