GORMLEY/LEHMBRUCK CALLING ON THE BODY
The Lehmbruck Museum presents the most extensive exhibition of work by British sculptor Antony Gormley in Germany to date. Internationally renowed as one of the most significant and influential sculptors working today, Gormley has long expressed his admiration and interest in the works of Wilhelm Lehmbruck for their inwardness, sense of poise and calm, and their reflexive potential.
This exhibition has been conceived as a dialogue between the two artists, showcasing key works created almost a century apart. It draws parallels between Gormley and Lehmbruck, where both use the body as a site of transformation that seeks to evoke a state of being and quiet contemplation.
“Calling on the Body” will encompass the auratic Lehmbruck Wing and the entire museum, covering an area of 3000 square metres, with the artist’s sculptures acting as punctuation points throughout the building. It includes a selection of works spanning the breadth of Gormley’s practice; from his seminal early lead works, to the more recent Slabwork series that transform the bodyspace into architecture. One major installation will also be shown: the 300 life-size concrete bunkers of Allotment II (1996), while Drift VI, an energy field containing a body-shaped void, appears to be floating in the museum‘s atrium.
The exhibition is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Rhineland Regional Council (LVR), the Cultural Foundation of the German Federal States, the Sparkasse Duisburg, the Sparkassen-Kulturstiftung Rheinland and duisport – Duisburger Hafen AG.
