Tony thinks Tony Cragg: Let the mind see.

Speaking of contemporary sculpture, if Britain needs to elect a representative, then Tony, 63? Cragg is undoubtedly the first choice. 1949 was born in Liverpool, England. 1988 won the Turner Prize, the most important British artist award, and represented Britain in the Venice Biennale that year. Known as Henry. The most famous British sculptor after Moore is also one of the greatest British artists of our time.

Squeeze, twist, stretch, sag, is it Tony? The most direct visual feeling of Cragg's sculpture works. The ingenious use of materials is the most remarkable feature of Tony's whole artistic career. Tony mixed the inspiration and creativity in the fields of neurology, biology, physics and chemistry with various materials such as municipal garbage, waste plastics, synthetic materials and bronze. For decades, he has established his position in the contemporary art world, and has also made one amazing work after another.

Now, Tony came to China, "Tony? "Cragg: Sculpture and Painting Exhibition" landed in Shanghai Zendai Himalayan Art Museum.

September 7th, Tony? Craig visited Shanghai to unveil his first solo exhibition in Shanghai. Wearing a clean white shirt, a soft black coat and soft eyes behind rimless glasses, Eliot, the chief curator of the National Museum of Modern Art in Scotland, introduced Tony's honor at the opening ceremony. The people sitting by and being talked about hardly changed their expressions, and their speeches were only a few words, but Tony, with a calm face, broke out a cold joke or two from time to time-this leading figure in British contemporary art world is really not as wild as an "artist", but like. In fact, Tony has always been the dean of the Dü sseldorf Art Institute in Germany. The elegant scholar temperament and the artist's introverted publicity have reached a subtle harmony in Tony.

All the works in this exhibition are Tony's works? Cragg personally selected 177 pieces/group, including his major works in the past 15 years, including about 50 pieces/group of sculptures and more than 100 pieces of paper works. The exhibition is divided into two series: early forms and rational things. According to the context of the exhibition, the audience can clearly understand Tony? Cragg's artistic course, in turn, reflects the rapid development of contemporary sculpture in Britain since 1980s, and it is still full of vitality.

Various alternative materials

An artist flaunts himself as a "materialist"? In this regard, Tony smiled and explained that his "materialist" does not mean pursuing material life, but is very persistent about creative materials. At this level, it can also be explained that Tony is a' materialist'.

Tony, who was born in the family of an electrical engineer? Craig, 17 years old, became a natural rubber laboratory assistant. In the scientific world of atoms and subatomics, he gradually developed an unusual sensitivity to various materials and began to apply them to sculpture creation.

"Potato Head" was created by Tony at the age of 2 1. It is not among the works in this exhibition, but it is precious because it can reflect Tony's earliest artistic thoughts. For many years, Tony thought that this photographic work had been lost, but before coming to China for an exhibition tour, he accidentally found this "recovered" memories of youth in the studio, so he gladly added it to the exhibition.

A potato, with plastic facial features and a hat, was put into 20 different shapes and finally fixed in the photo. This potato head is deeply influenced by the most popular American pop art in the 1970s. Pop art reflects the psychology of the young generation who grew up after the war to express themselves and pursue originality. In his works, it is not difficult to see Tony's affection for Andy, the master of pop art? Marilyn from Warhol? Imitate the Monroe series. It is worth mentioning that "Potato Head" opened Tony's first step in artistic creation with plastic as the material.

At that time, the popularity in the European art world originated from arte povera in Italy, that is, using very ordinary or abandoned materials for artistic creation. Tony's little attempt to make plastic eyes, ears, mouth and nose in Potato Head later developed into a series of his plastic works. Tony made walls and floors with waste plastics of various colors washed up on the river bank. However, he didn't drown in a lot of people who devoted themselves to the Art of Bovela, but created a unique "Cragg style", which is closely related to his growing environment and his obsession with materials and sculpture forms.

Tony's early works mainly used recycled waste as raw materials. This exhibition includes Cathedral and Absolute Omnivore, which he created in the 1980s. 1988, the cathedral brought one of the most important awards in Tony's life: Turner Prize. Several brightly colored cones are piled up in the shape of a church. The most prominent feature of the cathedral is that there is no adhesive between the parts, and the works are shaped entirely by gravity. Tony piled layers of materials into various stacked abstract shapes through meticulous and rigorous stacking, which made his works driven silently, without the sticky and rigid feeling of ordinary buildings. If you take a closer look, you will find that these abstract and beautiful sculptures are made up of urban garbage, waste plastic, metal, glass and so on. Craig created a brand-new form for the original plain material, which can only be realized by the imagination of genius and the artistic understanding between organic and inorganic.

In addition to using existing materials such as metal, synthetic materials, wood, glass and discarded bottles to express works of art, Tony's choice of pigments has reached an almost harsh level. One of the biggest exhibits in this exhibition, declination, is made of bronze, but its surface is bright yellow. According to Tony's agent Marianne, when Tony lived in Germany, he worked with some local pigment factories and research centers and racked his brains for a long time, and finally developed a pigment that can cover bronze and never fade. Bright candy yellow often reminds people of children, naive and fragile, but under the seemingly fragile surface, the interior of this work is hard bronze, which contains Tony's deep thinking on both the surface and the heart.

In the early Forms series, Tony had a sculpture called Absolute Omnivore, which was also a reflection of Tony himself. "In the field of sculpture, I am an omnivore myself." Tony believes that this is not only related to his omnivore of materials, but also related to his compatibility with neurology, biology, pathology, psychology and other disciplines in the field of sculpture, which has changed people's inherent cognition of objects. "Not only plastic garbage, but also DNA in the human body can be made into sculptures." Tony said. Once Tony reaches the top, he will see that his unique and keen eye for materials has made his artistic achievements to a great extent. /kloc-in October, Tony became the first living artist to hold a solo exhibition in the Louvre.

Breathing sculpture

Tony is good at making the finishing touch to the whole sculpture by making small changes to some details. The power of life constantly flows between objects, and these sculptures with different materials and abstract shapes have breath and soul in Tony's hands. Tony's sculptures are almost abstract, but Tony, a "materialist", has brought the unknown life consciousness to an unprecedented height.

A series of rational things were placed in the middle of a small exhibition hall, but most visitors stopped to watch. This work, whose surface is completely glued with dice, is said to have used nearly 6.5438+0.9 million dice, which is very amazing. Marion, the agent, said: "Dice is first related to luck, which coincides with the contingency of things. The dice on the surface of the work are like human pores. Through dice, human skin can breathe smoothly. When sweating, the sweat will evaporate a little through the capillaries, and the overall upward shape of the work is very similar to the rise of water vapor. "