anish kapoor's endless black whirpool at galleria continua

anish kapoor’s black whirlpool endlessly spins at galleria continua
(above) descension, 2015
 steel, water, motor  / 500 x 500 cm
all images courtesy the artist and galleria continua, san gimignano / beijing / les moulins
all photos by ela bialkowska, okno studio

anish kapoor: descension
galleria continua, san gimignano
now through september 5, 2015

anish kapoor returns to italy with ‘descension’, infilling san gimignano’s galleria continua with specially conceived installations and artworks for the gallery’s vast former cinema and theater space. amongst a series of new sculptures in alabaster, a collection of work in stainless steel and large-scale, fiberglass interventions throughout, is the installation in the stalls area, ‘descension’, from which the exhibition takes its name. previously presented during the kochi-muziris biennale in india, the seemingly black bottomless hole of dark water ceaselessly spins down into the floor, dragging the viewer into its menacing abyss.

descension, 2015

through its endless progression downwards into the theater floor, ‘descension’ destabilizes the viewer’s perception of the earth as a solid element and embodies kapoor’s exploration into non-objects as artworks. in its constant state of flux and movement, the installation presents the visitor with a sharp a thrust downwards towards a totally unknowable interior.

in regards to the relationship between fullness and the void, kapoor says, ‘I have always thought of it (the void) … as a transitional space, an in-between space. it’s very much to do with time. I have always been interested as an artist in that very first moment of creativity where everything is possible and nothing has actually happened. it’s a space of becoming.’

descension, 2015

kapoor’s work extends the concept of sculpture in art. the exhibition features a series of new sculptures in alabaster, in which a highly refined section has been carefully carved out from the volume. inviting the viewer to reflect upon the mysteries of time buried within their form, these untitled stone masses simultaneously convey a sense of eternity, while their translucent qualities reinforce the sense of transition from painting to sculpture.

installation view of ‘descension’ at galleria continua

video courtesy of

stainless steel sculptures, painted fiberglass objects mounted on the wall and huge interventions that tower above visitors are viewable throughout galleria continua, each enforcing kapoor’s interest in the human being and self-awareness, on the mind and the experience of the things surrounding it, and on the universality of time and space.

installation view of the exhibition ‘descension’ at galleria continua, san gimignano