Anish Kapoor - 20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Afternoon Session New York Tuesday, May 16, 2023 | Phillips

20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale,...

New York Auction 16 May 2023

  • “I am really interested in the ‘non-object’ or the ‘non-material.’ I have made objects in which things are not what they at first seem to be.”
    —Anish Kapoor 

    Held in the personal collection of Hollywood actor Jim Carrey, Non-Object (Spire), 2007, is an iconic example of Anish Kapoor’s Spire sculptures that have been prominently shown across the globe in exhibitions such as Anish Kapoor: Turning the World Upside Down at Kensington Gardens, London, organized by the Serpentine Gallery in 2010, and Anish Kapoor at Mehboob Studios, Mumbai in 2011. With its delicate, tapered pinnacle, precisely round base and polished steel surface, the outdoor sculpture almost otherworldly in its geometric perfection. Stretching up towards the sky, the work at once reflects and pierces its surroundings.

     

    Anish Kapoor utilizes the phrase “non-object” to describe works that morph with their surroundings to highlight the beauty of other objects. A “non-object” does not refer to the lack of an object, but rather the malleable relationship between the object and its space. Kapoor’s “non-objects” upend traditional expectations of shape and form: they are solidly present but constantly in flux as they interact with their shifting settings. The title of Non-Object (Spire) hints at the elusive, seductive qualities of the sculpture. It is a substantive structure, but its presence is chameleon-like.  This exceptional work is amongst the first of Kapoor’s Non-Object sculptures and epitomizes this series, which includes other examples such as Non-Object (Pole), 2008 and Non-Object (Plane), 2010.

    “[Non-Object (Spire)] sits among the trees, its silver skin coated with rain drops: part religious icon and part futuristic form. As you walk towards it a second spire is reflected in the base of the larger. When you arrive up close it disappears like a mirage in an oasis.”
    —Sue Hubbard

    Reflecting its external setting, Non-Object (Spire) is endlessly mutable. The impressive form retains a sense of lightness that draws viewers to contemplate, as Kapoor intends, its metaphysical presence. Interacting with daily changes in light and seasonal shifts in the landscape, Non-Object (Spire) provides a continually enticing experience. Warping and reflecting the external world, the work at once distorts our surroundings and heightens our perception of them. The work itself is a perfect shape, lifting geometry out of the theoretical and into the physical world.

     

    Kapoor experimented with this concept in an earlier, smaller version of the work exhibited at Barbara Gladstone Gallery in the 2004 show Whiteout. Spire, 2004, dons a similar shape and structure but narrows more considerably at its highest point. Non-Object (Spire) relies on its substantial size to fulfill its nearly ten-foot peak. From understanding this shape and discovering pragmatic proportions, this earlier exercise prepared Kapoor to produce the present example at its full span, which has been shown widely to great acclaim. Non-Object (Spire) proves an important contribution to Kapoor’s contemporary exploration of monumental, awe-inspiring forms, which includes work such as ArcelorMittal Orbit, 2012, in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Beckoning the sublime, it updates the role one held by historical cathedral spires and even responds to paragons of supertall architecture like Burj Khalifa in Dubai or the Taipei 101 tower in Kapoor’s unmistakable style.

    • Description

      Please note that this Lot is located in Los Angeles. If you wish to inspect the work in person prior to bidding, please contact Laura Bishai (lbishai@phillips.com) to arrange a viewing.

    • Provenance

      Gladstone Gallery, New York
      Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2011

    • Exhibited

      New York, Gladstone Gallery, Anish Kapoor, May 12–June 22, 2008 (another example exhibited)
      Oudenburg, De 11 Lijnen, Sculpture in Nature, Nature of Sculpture, May 16–October 4, 2009, pp. 36–37, 70, 72, 84 (another example exhibited and illustrated, p. 37, installation view of another example illustrated, pp. 70, 72, 84; erroneously titled Spire and dated 2009)
      London, Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens, Anish Kapoor: Turning the World Upside Down, September 28, 2010–March 13, 2011, pp. 10, 46, 48–52, 71 (another example exhibited; installation view of another example illustrated, pp. 10, 49–52)
      Mumbai, Mehboob Studios, Anish Kapoor, November 30, 2010–February 16, 2011, pp. 120–121, 210 (another example exhibited and illustrated, p. 121)

    • Literature

      David Anfam, Anish Kapoor, London, 2009, pp. 458–461, 522 (Gladstone Gallery, New York, 2008 installation view of another example illustrated, pp. 459, 522; De 11 Lijnen, Oudenburg, 2009 installation view of another example illustrated, pp. 460–461)
      Richard Cork, "Anish Kapoor, Kensington Gardens," Financial Times, October 5, 2010, online
      Sue Hubbard, "Anish Kapoor, Turning the World Upside Down," The New Statesman, October 20, 2010, online
      Lucy Archibald, "Dress up for Anish Kapoor," Vogue India, December 13, 2010, online (Mehboob Sudios, Mumbai, 2010 installation view of another example illustrated)
      Malaika Byng, "Anish Kapoor's first exhibition in India," Wallpaper*, 2010, online (another example illustrated; Mehboob Sudios, Mumbai, 2010 installation view of another example illustrated)
      Zerin Anklesaria, "A hall of mirrors," The Hindu, January 8, 2011, online (Mehboob Sudios, Mumbai, 2010 installation view of another example illustrated)
      Shirin Mehta, "Art Whirl," Verve Magazine, January 19, 2011, online (another example illustrated; Mehboob Studios, Mumbai, 2010 installation view of another example illustrated)
      Homi K. Bhabha, Anish Kapoor, Paris, 2011, pp. 361–363 (Mehboob Studios, Mumbai, 2011 installation view of another example illustrated, p. 361; Kensington Gardens, London, 2010 installation view of another example illustrated, p. 362; Gladstone Gallery, New York, 2008 installation view of another example illustrated, p. 363)
      Sir Norman Rosenthal, ed., Symphony for a Beloved Sun: Anish Kapoor, Berlin, 2013, p. 189 (another example illustrated)
      Amah-Rose Abrams, "Anish Kapoor: From Conceptualism to Activism," Artnet News, December 8, 2015, online (another example illustrated)
      Space Shifters, exh. cat., Hayward Gallery, London, 2018, pp. 109, 212 (Kensington Gardens, London, 2010 installation view of another example illustrated, p. 109)

Property from the Jim Carrey Collection

353

Anish Kapoor

Non-Object (Spire)

stainless steel
118 7/8 x 118 1/8 x 118 1/8 in. (302.2 x 300 x 300 cm)
Executed in 2007, this work is number 1 from an edition of 3.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
$250,000 - 350,000 

Sold for $660,400

Contact Specialist

Patrizia Koenig
Specialist, Head of Sale, Afternoon Session
+1 212 940 1279
pkoenig@phillips.com

20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Afternoon Session

New York Auction 16 May 2023