British artist Antony Gormley chooses Hong Kong to install Event Horizon, the internationally acclaimed public art project. First shown in London in 2007, followed by Rotterdam, New York, São Paulo and Rio di Janeiro, the project is now headed to Hong Kong. Event Horizon in Hong Kong is presented by British Council Hong Kong.
Event Horizon, New York
“Event Horizon captures the particular time of a particular body: a subjective place. The principle dynamic of the work is the relationship between imagination and the horizon, involving the citizen in a game of seeking and perhaps finding. Beyond those figures that you can actually see, how many more are out of sight? Where is the meeting place of earth and sky? Through the catalyst of Event Horizon I want the city of Hong Kong to become a place of reverie that invites reflection on human nature and our place in the wider scheme of things,” says Antony Gormley.
Event Horizon, New York
Event Horizon will be the largest and most prolific public art project ever installed in Hong Kong with support from visionary landlords and welcomed by the HKSAR Government. The work was originally conceived in the year when for the first time over half of the planet’s human population were recorded as living in cities. Thirty one sculptures looking out into space will be mounted at both street level and building tops across Hong Kong’s Central and Western districts, questioning how the built world relates to an inherited earth.
Event Horizon: São Paulo
“Event Horizon gives the Hong Kong public access to world class contemporary art in a way that all can enjoy. The installation is particularly suited to Hong Kong and its fast paced urban lifestyle and forward-looking spirit of the city. When we look up at or pass by the sculptures, it encourages us to stop, engage, and perhaps re-assess our current position in the world by looking within ourselves,” says Robert Ness, Director of British Council Hong Kong. “Public installations encourage the community to interact with art, which I believe makes a city a better place to live in. Event Horizon cements Hong Kong’s status as a global art hub.”
Event Horizon is also an education and outreach project targeted at teachers, students and the public. A series of lectures, seminars and teacher development workshops and packs will be available to over 1,000 public and special needs schools as well as private and government community youth groups and organisations.
Hong Kong’s community has come together to show support. Event Horizon in Hong Kong is presented by British Council Hong Kong with support from lead partner K11 Art Foundation and sponsors GAW Capital Partners, Grosvenor, Christie’s Hong Kong, Hogan Lovells, Howard Bilton of The Sovereign Art Foundation, Central Saint Martin /Kai-Yin Lo Cross Cultural Lecture, Dynamic Network Alliances, Mazarine Asia Pacific, Icicle Group and Sinclair Communications.
About The Artist
Antony Gormley’s work has been widely exhibited throughout the UK and internationally with exhibitions at Forte di Belvedere, Florence (2015); Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern (2014); Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia (2012); Deichtorhallen, Hamburg (2012); The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg (2011); Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria (2010); Hayward Gallery, London (2007); Malmö Konsthall, Sweden (1993) and Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæ k, Denmark (1989).
Permanent public works include the Angel of the North (Gateshead, England), Another Place (Crosby Beach, England), Inside Australia (Lake Ballard, Western Australia) and Exposure (Lelystad, The Netherlands).
Gormley was awarded the Turner Prize in 1994, the South Bank Prize for Visual Art in 1999, the Bernhard Heiliger Award for Sculpture in 2007, the Obayashi Prize in 2012 and the Praemium Imperiale in 2013. In 1997 he was made an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) and was made a knight in the New Year’s Honours list in 2014. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, an Honorary Doctor of the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Trinity and Jesus Colleges, Cambridge. Gormley has been a Royal Academician since 2003. Antony Gormley was born in London in 1950.
About the British Council
The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We create international opportunities for the people of the UK and other countries and build trust between them worldwide. We work in more than 100 countries and our 8,000 staff – including 2,000 teachers – work with thousands of professionals and policy makers and millions of young people every year by teaching English, sharing the arts and delivering education and society programmes. In Hong Kong, we have been doing this since 1948, giving people opportunities to learn, share and connect worldwide. Our work in the arts spans photography, drama, dance, literature, creative writing, film, design, and the visual arts. Recent initiatives include a ‘Musician in Residence’ programme, the ‘Above the Line’ exhibition of photographs of North Korea, and the ‘New British Inventors: Inside Heatherwick Studio’ exhibition in September 2015 at PMQ.
We are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter. A core publicly-funded grant provides 20 per cent of our turnover which last year was £864 million. The rest of our revenues are earned from services which customers around the world pay for, such as English classes and taking UK examinations, and also through education and development contracts and from partnerships with public and private organisations. All our work is in pursuit of our charitable purpose and supports prosperity and security for the UK and globally.
www.britishcouncil.org.
