Antony Gormley

White Cube, London
Acquired from the above by the previous owner in October 2010

London, White Cube, Antony Gormley: Test Sites, June 2010

This work is in excellent condition overall. The figure is stable. The oxidized surface throughout is intentional and consistent with the artist's choice of medium and working method. Under close inspection, there are a few scattered unobtrusive surface accretions. A footprint plate is required for installation of this work which Sotheby’s will provide to the future owner.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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“I am interested in the body because it is the place where emotions are most directly registered. When you feel frightened, when you feel excited, happy, depressed, somehow the body registers it.” - Antony Gormley

“I use the construction language of the built world; pillars and lintels, to evoke the inner condition of the body, treating the body less as a thing than a place. There is a tension between a suggested symmetry and the actual articulation of a body, so that very slight variations in the alignment of the blocks can be read empathetically as an indication of the total body feeling. All of these pieces attempt to treat the body as a condition; being, not doing.” - Antony Gormley

Antony Gormley’s Butt is an early example of the artist’s Extended Blocker series which expand the blocker volumes on multiple axes towards the context of the built world. They attempt to extend emotion through formal means. 

Gormley has turned from the consideration of the body as a composite constructed from discrete elements to architecture as a mental condition, and moves, with this series, to use an architectonic language of stacking, propping and cantilever to provoke empathic feeling for the present urban-bound human condition.  Based on a 3D scan of the artist’s own body and comprised of subtly varied cast iron blocks, Butt is thoughtful yet playful, solid yet dynamically expanding forwards.  The body is enclosed within its own, folded posture, evoking the tension between the existential conditions of shelter and exposure.