ANISH KAPOOR: DRAWINGS
Lisson Gallery is pleased to present Anish Kapoor’s first solo exhibition with the gallery, featuring a series of recent gouache drawings on paper.
November 2, 2024 - January 25, 2025
Known for his rigorous experimentation with materials and his ability to conjure uncanny sensory experiences, Kapoor’s practice defies genres by seamlessly blending sculptural and painterly approaches. A cornerstone in the history of British and global contemporary art, his works distort physical space and interrogate the allusive processes of visual perception. This new body of work features rich, vibrant colours – from deep purples and blues to lavish, fiery layers of yellow, orange and red – where unknown forces appear to emerge from a mysterious darkness.
The recent drawings in this exhibition focus on the void – a central motif for Kapoor – and the tensions between light and dark, inside and outside permeate these works. Kapoor’s forms turn themselves inside out with brushstrokes that richly and energetically impregnate each drawing with vibrant hues, as if to negate the idea of an outer surface, inviting the viewer to contemplate their inner depths. In these drawings, his unique sense of colour as visceral substance, reverberates through biological and architectural form, as openings, cracks, windows and passages fade into impenetrable oblivion. The works are saturated with raw, emotional intensity, yet at their core, they evoke a transcendent light, a luminous dawn emerging amidst the forms.
The energetic application of pigment elicits a sense of movement and raw elemental force, typical of Kapoor’s exploration of light, depth, and emotion. Much of Kapoor's oeuvre draws the viewer into an introspective engagement with colour, form, and space; here we see energetic compositions dominated by a central dark void, embedded in a glowing landscape, or reversely a glowing void within dark mountainous form. The intense interplay between the background, foreground, and interiority suggests an infinite depth that pulls the viewer inward. The surrounding hues of blue, earthy green and red strokes evoke organic vitality, as if the void is emerging from, or dissolving into, a landscape.
In one work, a bold stroke of black penetrates a vivid red interior, grounding the composition with a dramatic contrast that recalls a void, shadow, or abyss. The swirling lines and layered textures suggest both chaos and energy, a reflection of Kapoor’s fascination with the elemental forces of nature and the dichotomy of light and darkness, creation and destruction.