ANTONY GORMLEY (B. 1950) - photo 1
ANTONY GORMLEY (B. 1950) - photo 2
ANTONY GORMLEY (B. 1950) - photo 3
ANTONY GORMLEY (B. 1950) - photo 4

ANTONY GORMLEY (B. 1950)

Lot 11
10.09.2024 00:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
$ 579 600
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 1279135
Lot 11 | ANTONY GORMLEY (B. 1950)
Estimate value
$ 250 000 – 350 000
ANTONY GORMLEY (B. 1950)
Quantum Cloud XI
stainless steel
89 x 56 x 45 ½ in. (226 x 142 x 116 cm.)
Executed in 2000.




Provenance

Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris.
Private collection, 2000.
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 1 July 2008, lot 71.
Acquired at the above sale by the late owner.



Exhibited

Paris, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Antony Gormley, Quantum Clouds and Other Works, March-April 2000, pp. 40-41 (illustrated).



Further details

As one of the more notable works of Antony Gormley’s ‘Quantum Cloud’ series, began in the late 1990s, Quantum Cloud XI demonstrates the artist’s sculptural and innovative virtuosity. The sculpture departs from traditional anatomical representation by breaking the skin’s bounding condition through a series of steel bars that suggest a dynamic field of energy. By engaging with quantum theory and exploring the tension between energy and mass, Quantum Cloud XI represents a significant moment in Gormley’s sculpture at the turn of the millennium.

Gormley is celebrated for his innovative approach to sculpture, which often intersects with the field of architecture, physics and cosmology. His ‘Quantum Cloud’ works, evoke the quantum age and explore ideas of quantum potential as articulated by physicist Basil Hiley, one of Gormley’s interlocutors as he embarked on marking the series. The tightly nested tetrahedral bars become cloud trajectories rather than a solid human form, for example, and this abstraction was informed by Hiley’s assertion that quantum theory registers a more holistic understanding of reality, one that registers a dynamic interaction between energy and mass.

As Gormley has said of the work, questioning the relationship between the body and its environment “It is an open question in the ‘Quantum Clouds’ whether the body is emerging from a chaotic energy field, or the field from the body” (A. Gormley, Series: Quantum Clouds, 1999–2007, online: https://www.antonygormley.com/ [accessed 1/8/2024]). This conceptual inquiry highlights the sculpture's engagement with notions of uncertainty and indeterminacy, resonating as well with Werner Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle in quantum mechanics.

The sculpture recalls Gormley’s monumental installation on London’s River Thames, Quantum Cloud, which has become a prominent landmark at Greenwich Peninsula. Like that sculpture, Quantum Cloud XI is a catalyst that calls upon the active participation of the viewer. In Gormley’s words, “The indeterminacy of the skin summons active involvement of the projection and finding force in the eye of the beholder” (A. Gormley, Series: Quantum Clouds, 1999–2007, online: https://www.antonygormley.com/ [accessed 1/8/2024]).

Quantum Cloud XI stands as a testament to Gormley’s innovative use of materials and spatial relationships. The sculpture’s form — comprised of stainless steel bars — challenges classical ideals of mass and form. The use of steel, arranged in such a way so as to suggest both density and transparency, physically registers Gormley’s intent to “depict the body as an evolving, shifting entity rather than a static object” (A. Gormley quoted in Antony Gormley, London, 2007).
By challenging traditional sculptural ideals and embracing larger questions, Quantum Cloud XI contributes to a reimagined understanding of the body and its place within the universe.
Artist:Antony Gormley (1950)
Applied technique:Metalwork
Medium:Steel
Art style:Contemporary art
Place of origin:England, Northern Europe, Europe, United Kingdom
Auction house category:Sculptures, Statues & Figures
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
10.09.2024 – 10.09.2024
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
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