Sky Mirror is a public sculpture by artist Anish Kapoor.[1] Commissioned by the Nottingham Playhouse, it is installed outside the theatre in Wellington Circus, Nottingham, England.[2] Sky Mirror is a 6-metre-wide (20 ft)-wide concave dish of polished stainless steel weighing 10 tonnes (9.8 long tons) and angled up towards the sky. Its surface reflects the ever-changing environment.[2]
The original Sky Mirror
editIt took six years from the initial idea for a major new piece of public art to the unveiling of Sky Mirror on 27 April 2001, and cost £921,000 (equivalent to £1,924,000 in 2023).[1][3] At the time, it was the largest National Lottery grant to any single artwork.[3] It was manufactured in Finland.[2]
In autumn 2007 the Nottingham Playhouse Sky Mirror was voted Pride of Place in a poll to find Nottingham's favourite landmark.[4] In 2009, Sky Mirror was installed in Brighton's Pavilion Gardens for the Brighton Festival.[5]
From 28 September 2010, Sky Mirror and three other Kapoor sculptures were exhibited in Kensington Gardens, London.[6] The open-air exhibition was titled Turning the World Upside Down and it ran until 13 March 2011. It was accessible from 6 a.m. until dusk.[7] Kapoor said that Kensington Gardens was "the best site in London for a piece of art, probably in the world". The location of Sky Mirror was previously occupied by a sculpture by Henry Moore – a work that was donated by the artist, but had been removed for conservation in 1996.[8] Kapoor's sculptures were guarded round-the-clock at a cost estimated to be £120,000 paid for by the Royal Parks Agency.[9]
Versions of Sky Mirror
editFrom 20 September to 27 October 2006, a larger version of Sky Mirror was installed at Rockefeller Center in New York City. It had a 35 foot (11 m) diameter, stood three stories tall, and weighed 23 long tons (23 t).[10] The convex side faced Fifth Avenue, the concave side the Rockefeller Center courtyard.
Versions of Sky Mirror also exist in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia,[11] in front of the Casino de Monte-Carlo in Monaco,[12] and in the Serralves Museum in Porto, Portugal.[13] The De Pont Museum of Contemporary Art in Tilburg, the Netherlands has a rectangular (650 cm by 250 cm) version. There is a version at the Dallas Cowboys Art Collection at AT&T Stadium.[14] Singapore's Marina Bay Sands has a 2.9-metre-wide (9.5 ft)-wide version.[15] A 5-metre-wide (16 ft)-wide version was exhibited at Houghton Hall in 2020.[16]
Gallery
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Sky Mirror (original), Nottingham
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Sky Mirror (original), Kensington Gardens, London
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Sky Mirror (version), New York, as seen from Rockefeller Center
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Sky Mirror (version), Serralves, Porto, Portugal
References
edit- ^ a b Young, Emma. "Barbecue wings". New Scientist. Archived from the original on 28 October 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
- ^ a b c Nanrah, Gurjeet (3 July 2021). "The 6-metre wide mirror sculpture displayed the city for 20 years". Nottinghamshire Live. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ a b "Fire-starting sculpture unveiled". 27 April 2001. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ BBC. "Art captures city's heart". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ Kapoor, Anish. "Anish Kapoor: Sky Mirror". anishkapoor.com. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ "Exhibition of Anish Kapoor's sculptures opens in Kensington Gardens". Demotix. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
- ^ "Anish Kapoor Turning the World Upside Down". Demotix. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
- ^ Gayford, Martin (28 September 2010). "It's the location of Anish Kapoor's 'Sky Mirror' that counts". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 26 October 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
- ^ Ross Lydall (7 October 2010). "Reflecting badly: Public pays for guards on Anish Kapoor mirrors". Evening Standard. London. Archived from the original on 23 April 2011. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
- ^ Vogel, Carol (3 October 2013). "Warhol Death and Disaster Work to Be Sold by Sotheby's". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 22 April 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
- ^ Mosse, Martha (24 April 2021). "Dream Anish Kapoor". The Wick Culture. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ Calendar, Event (22 June 2017). "Monuments in Monaco: Sculptures Near Monte-Carlo Casino". HelloMonaco. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ "Sky Mirror". Lisson Gallery. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ "Sky Mirror (2006) | AT&T Stadium". Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ "Art Installations at the Marina Bay Sands Art Path". www.marinabaysands.com. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ "Major exhibition by Anish Kapoor opens at Houghton Hall". Lisson Gallery. Retrieved 20 December 2024.