Big, bold sculpture, often in red or with a polished reflective surface – you know the drill regarding Anish Kapoor’s impactful artworks. It’s why they’re usually outside, after all, what building is big enough to contain them and has the architecture to hold its own against Kapoor’s art?
Step forward Liverpool Cathedral, Britain’s largest cathedral, whose stunning architecture is one of the few places that can dwarf Kapoor’s works. The largest piece in the show is more than seven metres cubed and yet it sits beneath a stained-glass window towering over it. This cubed artwork in the artist’s trademark red and black has openings on all sides and when we look from one angle it guides our gaze upwards along the length of the building towards the altar – keeping with the design of most cathedrals and churches that are designed to make us look up in reverence.
We can venture inside the darkened centre of the sculpture and red lines crisscrossing the space resemble blood vessels as if we’re safely ensconced in a womb or closing our eyes against a light source, or in a horror movie depending on your mindset when you enter the space.
In the centre of the space sits a giant red wax bell, underneath the Cathedral’s bells, and it takes my eyes a little time to notice the metal blade revolving around it slicing off a thin layer of wax as it swings by. There’s always been a sense of threat in Kapoor’s works whether that be slicing or puncturing works and in this space, my mind naturally references the Crucifixion and the Blood of Christ. The works are designed to be spiritual but that element feels heightened when seeing his works in a Cathedral.
His reflecting work spire tapers as it points towards the heavens, while its reflective surface inverts the world around us. Encouraging us to see the world with different eyes is something Kapoor and religion have in common.
The final sculpture is his subtlest – ‘imminence’ is a block of Onyx that has a bump at its centre resembling a pregnant mother. It’s fittingly placed in the ‘Lady Chapel’ where there are several monuments to women.
The sculptural works are joined by a couple of paintings and while they have a great fleshy texture, they do get lost a little in the large space and it’s his sculptures that draw the eye.
I’ve always been a fan of Anish Kapoor’s large-scale sculptures and Liverpool Cathedral is the perfect venue for them. Just over a month does feel too short a run and it would have been great if they could have stayed for a much longer run.
Anish Kapoor: Monadic Singularity – 15th September, Liverpool Cathedral
Entrance is free – £5 for the guide and access to the balcony overlooking the works.
All images copyright Anish Kapoor. Photo: Rob Battersby.
