The cast iron sculpture was originally situated on Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Landmark Trust. It is part of Gormley’s LAND series of sculptures which the artist has referred to as: “standing stones: markers in space and time… catalysts for reflection.”
DAZE IV joins other Gormley sculptures already in Cambridge, including Earthbound: Plant (2002), a life-size metal sculpture of the human form buried upside down in front of the MacDonald Institute for Archaeological Research on the Downing Site: only the soles of the feet are visible. Jesus College has one of the 'Learning to See' sculptures in its main Library. It is a single standing figure, with feet together and arms at sides in an attitude of watchful repose, based on a cast of the artist’s body. The sculpture mutes any individuating features to assert on what is typical of the human form.
Gormley studied archaeology, anthropology and the history of art at Trinity College, graduating in 1971. Over the last 25 years he has revitalised the human image in sculpture through a radical investigation of the body as a place of memory and transformation, using his own body as subject, tool and material. Best known for his Angel of the North sculpture in Gateshead, Gormley was awarded the Turner Prize in 1994, the South Bank Prize for Visual Art in 1999 and was knighted in 2014. He is an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College and Jesus College, Cambridge and has been a member of the Royal Academy since 2003.
Professor Martin Millett, Head of School of Arts and Humanities at the University of Cambridge, which was instrumental in arranging the loan of the sculpture, said:
“We’re delighted to welcome this exciting sculpture to enhance the Sidgwick site. Gormley's work is particularly appropriate to the architectural context of the site whilst its human scale is in harmony with the students and staff at the core of the campus.”
Today’s reception for the sculpture’s arrival, hosted by the School of Arts and Humanities, was attended by Gormley, Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz and staff who work on the Sidgwick Site. The sculpture is on loan to the University for 10 years.
The sculpture was installed with the assistance of the University’s Estate Management Department.
University of Cambridge alumnus and celebrated sculptor Sir Antony Gormley welcomed his life-size sculpture of the human form, DAZE IV, to its new home on the University’s Sidgwick Site today.
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