Anish Kapoor - 20th Century & Contemporary Art & Design Evening Sale Hong Kong Saturday, May 26, 2018 | Phillips
  • Provenance

    Lisson Gallery, London
    Acquired from the above by the present owner

  • Catalogue Essay

    Anish Kapoor’s forte is his ability to create deep, moving and often disorienting artistic experiences. His works do not make you ‘think’ as much as they make you feel. The present lot, Untitled exemplifies this notion through immersion in colour, in turn exploring the impermanent and illusory nature of the material world.

    The large concave dish at first glance recalls the sun, a circle of saffron yellow so bright that it threatens to burst out of its confines. Projecting out into its surrounding space, the work commands attention, drawing its viewer into its unending depths of powdery opaque pigment, enveloping the senses to merge reality with illusion. The concave structure of the dish not only amplifies this immersive experience; it also blocks out peripheral distractions and centres the viewer into a meditative state. The saturation of yellow is oddly disorienting— its electric charge assaults the senses, but the visceral pull of colour swallows the viewer, causing all forms to disappear in its presence.

    Having first been born and raised in India before moving to London, the 1991 Turner Prize winner’s use of yellow is also highly significant to his native roots. Growing up in a culture where colour is highly symbolic in spiritual practice, yellow is a sacred colour in Hinduism, representing courage and selflessness, touching on topics of enlightenment and illumination. Kapoor’s deliberate use of this saffron-turmeric yellow is not only a nod to his cultural heritage, but it also intensifies the out-of-body dialogue between the viewer and the work, in turn exploring the relationships between existence and non‐existence, internal and external depth, and positive and negative space.

Property of an Important European Collector

48

Untitled

2013
signed and dated 'Anish Kapoor 2013' on the reverse
fibreglass and paint
90 x 90 x 45.5 cm. (35 3/8 x 35 3/8 x 17 7/8 in.)
Executed in 2013.

Estimate
HK$2,500,000 - 3,800,000 
€269,000-409,000
$321,000-487,000

Sold for HK$2,740,000

Contact Specialist
Jonathan Crockett
Deputy Chairman, Asia and Head of 20th Century & Contemporary Art, Asia
+852 2318 2023

Isaure de Viel Castel
Head of Department
+852 2318 2011

Sandy Ma
Head of Sale
+852 2318 2025

20th Century & Contemporary Art & Design Evening Sale

Hong Kong Auction 27 May 2018