''Event Horizon'' is the name of a large-scale public sculpture installation by the British artist
Antony Gormley
Sir Antony Mark David Gormley (born 30 August 1950) is a British sculptor. His works include the ''Angel of the North'', a public sculpture in Gateshead in the north of England, commissioned in 1994 and erected in February 1998; ''Another Pla ...
. First displayed in London in 2007, they were later displayed in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, downtown
São Paulo
São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...
and
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
, Brazil. Gormley describes his statues as "...showing solitary figures installed in groups yet retaining their sense of solitude and reflection."
Installations
Originally mounted in London in 2007, the project consists of 31 life-size anatomically correct male bodies, 27 constructed of fiberglass and four of cast iron, all cast from the body of the artist himself.
[''Event Horizon: Mad. Sq. Art.: Antony Gromley']
Madison Square installation guide
/ref> which were placed on top of prominent buildings along the London's South Bank
The South Bank is an entertainment and commercial district in central London, next to the River Thames opposite the City of Westminster. It forms a narrow strip of riverside land within the London Borough of Lambeth (where it adjoins Alber ...
–
for example the Shell Building and Waterloo Bridge
Waterloo Bridge () is a road and foot traffic bridge crossing the River Thames in London, between Blackfriars Bridge and Hungerford Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridges. Its name commemorates the victory of the British, Dutch and Prussians at the ...
. Part of Gormley's 2007 retrospective exhibition ''Blind Light'' at the Hayward Gallery
The Hayward Gallery is an art gallery within the Southbank Centre in central London, England and part of an area of major arts venues on the South Bank of the River Thames. It is sited adjacent to the other Southbank Centre buildings (the Roy ...
, it was best viewed from the gallery's terraces. The statues were occasionally mistaken as suicide attempts. The installation was taken down in August and September 2007. Gormley had previously constructed a similar project, ''Another Place
"Another place" or "the other place" is a euphemism used in many bicameral parliaments using the Westminster system, including Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom.
A member of one house will not usually refer directly to the other, but re ...
'', in Crosby Beach
Crosby Beach is part of the Merseyside coastline north of Liverpool in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, England, stretching about North-West from the Seaforth Dock in the Port of Liverpool, through Waterloo, Merseyside, Waterloo, where it se ...
, Merseyside
Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...
, England.
In 2010, the ''Event Horizon'' sculptures were installed in New York City at sites around Madison Square
Madison Square is a public square formed by the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway at 23rd Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The square was named for Founding Father James Madison, fourth President of the United States. ...
, as far downtown as Union Square
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
and as far uptown as the Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the st ...
. The 27 fiberglass figures were placed on setbacks and tops of buildings, while the four cast iron figures were on the ground in Madison Square Park
Madison Square is a public square formed by the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway at 23rd Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The square was named for Founding Father James Madison, fourth President of the United States. ...
. The installation was sponsored by the Madison Square Park Conservancy
Madison Square is a town square, public square formed by the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway at 23rd Street (Manhattan), 23rd Street in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan. The square ...
. The 2012 installation in São Paulo
São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...
and the 2015-16 show in Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
are the same as the London design, presented by British Council
The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...
partnered with K11 Art Foundation
The K11 Art Foundation (KAF) is a non-profit art foundation based in Central, Hong Kong, named for an eponymous shopping centre and established by the shopping centre's operator. It supports the development of Chinese contemporary art from Greate ...
.
Reception
Critic Howard Halle said of it that "Using distance and attendant shifts of scale within the very fabric of the city, 'Event Horizon''creates a metaphor for urban life and all the contradictory associations – alienation, ambition, anonymity, fame – it entails." Both in New York, London and Hong Kong, the figures were mistaken as suicide attempts. The installation's display at Chater House
Chater House () is an office tower in Central, Hong Kong. Opened in March 2003, it is a part of the Hongkong Land portfolio of properties. It has a three-level retail podium, known as Landmark Chater. The building was built on the site of the ...
in Hong Kong was cancelled when US investment bank JPMorgan
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. As of 2022, JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States, the w ...
, which has offices in the 30-storey skyscraper, asked its landlord, Hongkong Land
Hongkong Land (HKL) is a property investment, management and development group with commercial and residential property interests across Asia. It owns and manages some 850,000 sq. m. of office and retail property in Asia, principally in Hong K ...
— the sponsor of ''Event Horizon'' — to cancel its support for the show after bank employee Dennis Li Junjie jumped to his death from the building's roof in 2014.[Cristina Ruiz (May 10, 2014)]
Gormley’s Hong Kong installation cancelled after banker’s suicide
''The Art Newspaper
''The Art Newspaper'' is a monthly print publication, with daily updates online, founded in 1990 and based in London and New York City. It covers news of the visual arts as they are affected by international politics and economics, developments ...
''.
Artist's interpretation
Gormley said of the London installation that "it was great to see an individual or groups of people pointing at the horizon. This transfer of the stillness of sculpture to the stillness of an observer is exciting to me: reflexivity becoming shared." Of the New York site he said that "Within the condensed environment of Manhattan's topography, the level of tension between the palpable, the perceivable and the imaginable is heightened because of the density and scale of the buildings" and that in this context, the project should "activate the skyline in order to encourage people to look around. In this process of looking and finding, or looking and seeking, one perhaps re-assesses one's own position in the world and becomes aware of one's status of embedment."
In popular culture
One of the figures from ''Event Horizon'' was featured in the opening credits of the 2008 first episode of the British TV series '' Ashes to Ashes''.
References
External links
Artist's official website
BBC News story
Map of the statues' locations in London
{{Public art in Manhattan
2007 establishments in England
2007 sculptures
2010 in the United States
Fiberglass sculptures
Installation art works
Cast-iron sculptures
Outdoor sculptures in London
Outdoor sculptures in Manhattan
Sculptures by Antony Gormley