The creative life of Anish Kapoor
The routines and processes of a world-class artist
Sir Anish Kapoor is one of Britain’s best-known artists. His work is exhibited in major art institutions across the globe, while large-scale public sculptures such as Cloud Gate (aka The Bean) in Chicago and the Orbit tower next to London’s Olympic stadium have become landmarks and tourist attractions, helping to revive the urban areas in which they were built.
I met with Kapoor in 2012 at his studio, which more accurately is a series of buildings taking up one side of a quiet street in South London and containing offices, different sculpture studios, a fibreglass shop, his concrete studio, and a large white space in which he can think, and place pieces while he considers them, and decides whether they’re ready to show in public.
Kapoor laughs a lot, in a way that is infectious. He is also generous with his time, showing me round the complex, talking about his routines and creative habits, and patiently explaining works at different stages of completion. There were paintings and sculptures, tiny models of huge works that might never be built, and work in all kinds of different materials from mirrors to concrete, resin to fibreglass, many in his trademark bold, brilliant colours that themselves take years to develop and perfect.
