Inwendig Volle Figur 2006

This is Inwendig Volle Figur, by Anish Kapoor, a sculpture made of painted fiberglass. Kapoor is great at monumental scale, and his works draw you in with their often simple yet commanding forms. The sculpture's surface is like a carapace, super smooth, reflecting light, which gives it an almost otherworldly feel. And this red, what is it, cadmium? Crimson? It is so dense it’s like you could dive right into it. The ovoid form with its inviting hole, is it beckoning or threatening? I'm reminded of other sculptors like Barbara Hepworth or Henry Moore, who played with similar ideas of form and void. But Kapoor takes it to another level with his use of material and color. He makes something that feels both ancient and futuristic, familiar and totally strange. It's that ambiguity, that tension between opposites, that makes his work so compelling.