Together with Tony Cragg, Barry Flanagan and Rachel Whiteread, Anish Kapoor is one of the artists in the Deutsche Bank Collection who revolutionised British sculpture in the early 1980s – using new materials such as plastics and pigments, and creating works that combine concept, poetry and transcendence.
Kapoor is not afraid of any dimension: his mirrored stainless-steel sculpture "Cloud Gate" (2004) in Chicago's Millennium Park weighs 110 tons. In 2002, he installed "Marsyas" (2002) a blood-red PVC membrane 155 metres long and 35 metres high in the Turbine Hall of London’s Tate Modern. His sculpture for Berlin’s Deutsche Guggenheim, "Memory" (2008), commissioned by Deutsche Bank and the Guggenheim Museum, was also architectural in scale: a large organically ovoid Cor-Ten steel sculpture whose form can never be seen in its entirety.
Anish Kapoor, 'Turning the World Upside Down III', 1996 © Anish Kapoor. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2023
Kapoor’s work has been a fixture at Deutsche Bank for decades
Deutsche Bank has numerous works by Anish Kapoor in its collection. For the company's employees, however, it is above all his mirror sculpture "Turning the World Upside Down III" (1996) that has become something of a landmark. It has welcomed visitors to the lobby of London's Winchester House since 1999 and will move to Deutsche Bank’s new UK headquarters in Moorgate later this year. Like all of the Turner Prize-winning artist's work, it appears intriguingly immaterial, floating, seeming to change with each movement of the viewer, almost impossible to grasp.
Kapoor creates spatial experiences that are both physical and metaphysical. His work thrives on the tension between form and formlessness. It is this enigmatic ambiguity that gives his works an almost spiritual quality. This is also true of his works on paper. His pigment gouache "Untitled"(2001) though abstract, has the power of a romantic landscape painting and appears to be an infinite space whose barely comprehensible depth is only hinted at by a blurred band of colour.
About this article series
This article forms part of a special series celebrating Deutsche Bank’s 20 years as Global Lead Partner of Frieze art fairs, taking a closer look at one of 20 artists we have collaborated with and whose work features in the Deutsche Bank Collection.
Deutsche Bank's commitment to art and culture
Deutsche Bank is the Global Lead Partner for Frieze art fairs, with 2023 marking the 20th year of the partnership. As part of its Art & Culture commitment, Deutsche Bank has supported and collected the work of cutting-edge, international artists for more than 40 years. A global leader in corporate art programmes, the bank also runs an Artist of the Year programme, as well as its own cultural centre in Berlin, the PalaisPopulaire. All initiatives are based on the strong belief that engagement with art has a positive impact, not only on clients and staff but also on the communities in which the bank operates. Thus further collaborations such as the Deutsche Bank Frieze Los Angeles Film Award in the United States, The Art of Conversation in Italy, the Frieze x Deutsche Bank Emerging Curators Fellowship in the United Kingdom, and the digital platform Art:LIVE, create access to contemporary art for people all around the world. Discover more here.
Please find more information on Deutsche Bank’s art programme at db.com/art and follow us on Instagram @deutschebankart
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