Tony Cragg

Tony Cragg
Secretions, 1998

Dice and fibreglass
152 x 173 x 173 cm

Collection of Deutsche Bank, London
Courtesy of the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery

British artist Tony Cragg is known for his monumental abstract sculptures and the varied materials - including stone, bronze, plastic, glass and stainless steel - that he uses to create the towering, curving anthropomorphic forms. 
  More surprising, however, is the finish on ‘Secretions’, an imposing, shimmering artwork in excess of 1.5 sq m, on permanent display in the reception of Deutsche Bank’s London headquarters: thousands of white plastic playing dice cover every surface of the twisting, bulging, protruding piece. 
  The utilisation of dice might suggest that gambling is the subject of the sculpture however the title refers to the act of transformation: old forms secreting to make the new order. 
  Born in Liverpool, Cragg has lived and worked in Wuppertal, Germany since 1977.  A Royal Academician, Turner Prize winner and the British representative at the Venice Biennale, Cragg was knighted in 2016 for his services to the visual arts and Anglo-German relations.  Numerous works on paper by Cragg are also in the Deutsche Bank Collection.

mariangoodman.com
 
Hedge, issue 46, July 2017, pp68-74

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Tony Cragg
Points of View, 2007

Bronze
226-3/8 x 51-1/8 x 51-1/8 in

Courtesy of the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery

Points of View, the lofty tripartite work by British sculptor Tony Cragg, is characteristic of his distinctive series, Rational Beings: circular or elliptical cross-sections of material loaded onto a vertical axis then cut, shaped and twisted, the axis veering off at abrupt angles - sharply protruding and challenging the elongated and heavy works to remain upright. 
  Points of View is one of three monumental bronze sculptures that form the installation, Walks of Life.  Points of View and Mixed Feelings are in a similar, columnar style whereas Caldera is a much more strapping and substantial work, coming to rest on three points, under which it is possible to walk.  The immense works are dynamic and anthropomorphic: facial profiles emerging, and just as suddenly disappearing, depending on the angle from which they are viewed.
  Walks of Life was installed in Madison Square Park, New York, during 2014-15 and is currently on display at the Garden Society, Gothenburg, until October 2015. 

Hedge, issue 37, September 2015, pp42-48