View source for Antony Gormley

{{Short description|British sculptor (born 1950)}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2025}}
{{Infobox artist
| honorific_prefix = [[Sir]]
| name             = Antony Gormley
| honorific_suffix = {{postnom|country=GBR|size=100%|CH|OBE|RA}}
| image            = Sir Antony Mark David Gormley (2024).jpg
| image_upright    = 0.9
| caption          = Gormley in 2024
| birth_name       = Antony Mark David Gormley
| birth_date       = {{birth date and age |1950|08|30|df=y}}
| birth_place      = [[Hampstead]], London, England
| death_date       = 
| death_place      = 
| education        = {{ubl|[[Trinity College, Cambridge]]|[[Saint Martin's School of Art]]|[[Goldsmiths, University of London]]|[[Slade School of Fine Art]]}}
| known_for        = Sculpture, [[installation art]], public artworks
| notable_works    = 
| movement         = 
| spouse           = {{marriage|[[Vicken Parsons]]|1980}}
| children         = 3
| awards           = {{ubl|[[Turner Prize]] (1994)|[[South Bank Sky Arts Award|South Bank Prize for Visual Art]] (1999)|[[Bernhard Heiliger#Legacy|Bernhard Heiliger Award for Sculpture]] (2007)|Obayashi Prize (2012)|[[Praemium Imperiale|Praemium Imperiale for Sculpture]] (2013)|[[Marsh Award for Excellence in Public Sculpture]] (2015)}}
| website          = {{URL|www.antonygormley.com}}
}}
{{stack|clear=true |
[[File:Anthony Gormley's Sound II - Winchester Cathedral.jpg|alt=Flooded crypt beneath Winchester Cathedral, featuring Anthony Gormley's sculpture 'Sound II'|thumb|Gormley's ''Sound II'' in the crypt beneath [[Winchester Cathedral]]]]
[[File:Gormley pair-341.JPG|thumb|Pair of figures separated by plate glass, [[Regent's Place]], London]]
[[File:gormley-event-horizon.jpg|thumb|One of 31 life-sized figures on London's skyline in ''[[Event Horizon (sculpture)|Event Horizon]]'']]
[[File:Antony Gormley - Another Place - Crosby Beach 01.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Another Place (sculpture)|Another Place]]'' (1997) where 100 cast-iron figures face out to sea on [[Crosby Beach]], near [[Liverpool]]]]
[[File:Iron Man - Antony Gormley Statue - Victoria Square - Birmingham - 2005-10-14.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Iron: Man]]'' (1993), in its former location in [[Victoria Square, Birmingham]]. It has since been relocated, nearby]]
[[File:Chipperfield Gormley Kivik Art Centre.JPG|thumb|upright|Antony Gormley and [[David Chipperfield]]'s ''Sculpture for an objective experience of architecture'' (2008), [[Kivik Art Centre]], Sweden]]
[[File:Exposure of Antony Gormley by Herman Verheij at Lelystad.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Exposure (sculpture)|Exposure]]'' (2010), in [[Lelystad]], the [[Netherlands]]]]
[[File:Gormley - Land - Lowsonford 09.jpg|thumb|upright|''Land'' at [[Lowsonford]], 2015]]
[[File:Antony_Gormley_-_Untitled_(for_Francis)_1985_(Tate_Modern)_3.jpg|thumb|upright|''Untitled (for Francis) 1985'' at the [[Tate Modern]] ]]
[[File:Clasp at Newcastle University.jpg|thumb|upright|''Clasp'' at [[Newcastle University]], 2018]]
}}

'''Sir Antony Mark David Gormley''' {{postnom|country=GBR|CH|OBE|RA}} (born 30 August 1950) is a British sculptor.<ref name="Boztas">{{cite news |last=Boztas |first=Senay |date=4 June 2022 |title=Antony Gormley to become German citizen due to 'tragedy' of Brexit |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/jun/04/antony-gormley-to-become-german-citizen-due-to-tragedy-of-brexit |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=5 June 2022}}</ref> His works include the ''[[Angel of the North]]'', a [[public art|public sculpture]] in [[Gateshead]] in the north of England, commissioned in 1994 and erected in February 1998;<ref name="Ina Cole" /> ''[[Another Place (sculpture)|Another Place]]'' on [[Crosby Beach]] near [[Liverpool]]; and ''[[Event Horizon (sculpture)|Event Horizon]]'', a multipart site installation which premiered in London in 2007, then subsequently in [[Madison Square]] in New York City (2010), [[São Paulo]] (2012) and Hong Kong (2015–16).

==Early life==
Gormley was born in [[Hampstead]], London, the youngest of seven children, to a German mother (maiden name Brauninger) and a father of Irish descent.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.ft.com/content/d3a3722e-74d6-11e6-bf48-b372cdb1043a |title=Antony Gormley on the role of architecture in his new work |newspaper=Financial Times |date=9 September 2016 |last=Heathcote |first=Edwin}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theartstory.org/artist/gormley-antony/|title=Antony Gormley Paintings, Bio, Ideas|website=The Art Story}}</ref><ref name="Wroe">{{cite news |last=Wroe |first=Nicholas |date=25 June 2005 |title=Leader of the pack |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2005/jun/25/art |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=6 August 2009}}</ref> His paternal grandfather was an [[Irish Catholic]] from [[Derry]] who settled in [[Walsall]] in Staffordshire.<ref>Aidan Dunne, ''[[The Irish Times]]'', Wednesday, 6 January 2016.</ref> The ancestral homeland of the [[Gormley]] Clan (Irish: ''Ó Goirmleadhaigh'') in [[Ulster]] was east [[County Donegal]] and west [[County Tyrone]],<ref>Robert Bell, ''The Book of Ulster Surnames'', pps. 80–81. [[The Blackstaff Press]], [[Belfast]], 2003.</ref> with most people in both Derry and [[Strabane]] being of County Donegal origin. Gormley has stated that his parents chose his initials, "AMDG", to have the inference [[Ad maiorem Dei gloriam]] – "to the greater glory of God".<ref name="AGBH">{{Cite episode |title=Antony Gormley: Being Human |series=Imagine |series-link=Imagine (TV series) |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06nrc0g |access-date=3 November 2015 |network=BBC |date=Autumn 2015}}</ref>

Gormley grew up in a [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/belief/scripts/antony_gormley.html |title=Interview with Antony Gormley |publisher=BBC |access-date=1 February 2012}}{{dead link|date=September 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> family living in [[Hampstead Garden Suburb]]. The family was wealthy, with a cook and a chauffeur, with a home overlooking the golf course; Gormley's father was an art lover.<ref name="Wroe" />

Gormley attended [[Ampleforth College]], a Benedictine boarding school in [[Yorkshire]],<ref name="Wroe" /> before reading Archaeology, Anthropology, and the History of Art at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], from 1968 to 1971.<ref name="Wroe" /> He travelled to India and the [[Dominion of Ceylon]] / [[Sri Lanka]] to learn more about [[Buddhism]] between 1971 and 1974.<ref name="Wroe" /> When Gormley returned to England, and inspired by his time in India, he made one of his first artworks, ''Sleeping Place'', by laying a plaster-soaked sheet over a friend. Its hollow plaster shell hinted at the form of a body and recalled the people Gormley saw asleep in [[India]] wrapped in [[Sari|saris]] or [[Dhoti|dhotis]].<ref>{{cite web |title=First Plaster Works – Sculpture Series – Antony Gormley |url=https://www.antonygormley.com/works/sculpture/series/first-plaster-works |website=www.antonygormley.com}}</ref> 

After attending [[Saint Martin's School of Art]] and [[Goldsmiths, University of London|Goldsmiths]] in London from 1974, he completed his studies with a postgraduate course in sculpture at the [[Slade School of Fine Art]], between 1977 and 1979.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}} Gormley's work as a student used natural materials such as stone and wood.<ref>{{cite web |title=Early Tree Works – Sculpture Series – Antony Gormley |url=https://www.antonygormley.com/works/sculpture/series/early-tree-works |website=Antony Gormley}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=October 2025}}

==Career==
{{Section citations needed|date=April 2024}}
Gormley's career began with a solo exhibition at the [[Whitechapel Gallery]] in 1981. In this exhibition, Gormley showed a series of works that were concerned with surfaces, skins and inner structures, such as ''Natural Selection'', a {{convert|10|m|adj=on}} row of objects, including tools, fruits, weapons and vegetables, encased in lead, and ''Room'', an enclosure reminiscent of a barbed-wire fence made from a set of the artist's clothes.

Gormley then turned his attention to the human body, creating moulds of his own body in plaster that he would then encase in lead. These works, such as the three-part sculptures ''Three Ways: Mould Hole and Passage'' and ''Land Sea and Air II'', as well as the single body-case works ''Plateau'', ''Night'' and ''Peer'', attempt to investigate the body as a space. In Gormley's words: "How to make bodies into vessels that both contain and occupy space? The early three-piece lead works are the first works in which I used my own body. I was trying to map out the phenomenology of the body and to find a new way of evoking it as being less a thing, more a place; a site of transformation, and an axis of physical and spatial experience."<ref>{{cite web |title=Three Part Lead Bodycase Works – Sculpture Series – Antony Gormley |url=https://www.antonygormley.com/works/sculpture/series/three-part-lead-bodycase-works |website=Antony Gormley}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=October 2025}} Throughout the 1980s, Gormley's lead body-cases were extended, suspended, sealed, pierced and also doubled into two joined forms. He had his first solo exhibition with [[Xavier Hufkens]] in 1987, who still represents Gormley.

Gormley describes his work as "an attempt to materialise the place at the other side of appearance where we all live."<ref name="Making Space">Antony Gormley: Making Space, Beeban Kidron documentary, 2007, shown on Channel 4 UK, November 2009; [http://www.channel4.com/programmes/antony-gormley-making-space/episode-guide/series-1/episode-1 Channel4.com]</ref> His work attempts to treat the body not as an object, but as a place and in making works that enclose the space of a particular body to identify a condition common to all human beings. The work is not symbolic but indexical – a trace of a real event of a real body in time. 

In the 1990s, the hollow body-cases became solid, with Gormley casting the work in iron to create masses that displace space. One of these works, ''Critical Mass II'', was installed in an old tram storage station in [[Vienna]].<ref name="Ina Cole" /> Comprising 60 life-size sculptures, all presented in a variety of positions and poses, the work has been described by Gormley as "an anti-monument to the victims of the 20th century".<ref>{{cite web |first=Anna |last=Dickie |url=https://ocula.com/magazine/conversations/antony-gormley/ |title=Antony Gormley |website=Ocula |date=13 May 2015 |access-date=28 April 2024}}</ref> This work has since been exhibited in a variety of countries and contexts, each time reconfigured in response to its environment. Notable presentations include the [[Royal Academy of Arts]] in [[London]], Art Changsha in China and [[Belvedere (fort)|Forte di Belvedere]] in [[Florence]], Italy.

The 2006 [[Sydney Biennale]] featured Gormley's ''Asian Field'', an installation of approximately 200,000 small clay figurines crafted by around 300 Chinese villagers in five days from 100 tons of red clay.<ref>{{cite web|title=Asian Field Tour 2003–2004|url=http://www.antonygormley.com/show/item-view/id/2276|website=Antony Gormley}}</ref> Use of others' works attracted minor comment. Some figurines were stolen.{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}} Also in 2006, the burning of Gormley's {{convert|25|m|ft|adj=mid|-tall}} ''The Waste Man'' formed the zenith of the [[Margate Exodus]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}} Other collaborative projects include ''Clay and the Collective Body'', ''Inside Australia'', ''Domain Field'' and Gormley's ongoing ''Field'' works, including ''Asian Field'', ''Amazonian Field'', ''American Field'', ''Field for the Art Gallery of New South Wales'' and ''Field for the British Isles''.<ref name="Ina Cole" />

In 2007 Gormley's ''[[Event Horizon (sculpture)|Event Horizon]]'', consisting of 31 life-sized and anatomically correct casts of his body, four in [[cast iron]] and 27 in [[fiberglass]], was installed on top of prominent buildings along London's [[South Bank]], and placed in locations around New York City's [[Madison Square]] in 2010. Critic Howard Halle said that "Using distance and attendant shifts of scale within the very fabric of the city, [''Event Horizon''] creates a metaphor for urban life and all the contradictory associations – alienation, ambition, anonymity, fame – it entails."<ref name="msq">''Event Horizon: Mad. Sq. Art.: Antony Gormley'' [http://eventhorizonnewyork.org/ Madison Square installation guide]</ref>

In July 2009, Gormley presented ''[[One & Other]]'', a [[Fourth Plinth]] commission, an invitation for members of the public, chosen by lot, to spend one hour on the vacant plinth in Trafalgar Square in London.<ref name="O&O" /> This "living art" happening initially attracted much media attention. It even became a topic of discussion on the long-running BBC radio drama series ''[[The Archers]]'', where Gormley made an appearance as himself.<ref name="Tel280609">Nikkhah, Roya; [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/5663650/Antony-Gormley-to-star-in-The-Archers.html "Antony Gormley to star in The Archers"], ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', 28 June 2009. Retrieved 6 August 2009.</ref>

Throughout the 2000s, Gormley has interrogated the relationship between the human body and architecture, notably in his series of steel and iron "Blockworks". In these works, Gormley replaces anatomy with architectural blocks that recall the built environment.

From 2 June–9 September 2012, [[The Phillips Collection]] exhibited ''Antony Gormley Drawing Space''.&nbsp;It was his first U.S. museum exhibition of his works on paper; the exhibit "... included approximately 80 prints and drawings created over 40 years."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2 June 2012 |title=Antony Gormley |url=https://www.phillipscollection.org/event/2012-06-01-antony-gormley |access-date=12 August 2025 |website=The Phillips Collection |language=en}}</ref>

In March 2014, Gormley appeared in the [[BBC Four]] series ''[[What Do Artists Do All Day?]]'' in an episode that followed his team and him in their Kings Cross studio, preparing a new work – a group of 60 enormous steel figures – called ''Expansion Field''.<ref name="Ina Cole" /> The work was shown at the [[Zentrum Paul Klee]] in [[Bern]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/live/bbcfour |title=Four – Watch Live |publisher=BBC |date=1 January 1970|access-date=26 March 2014}}</ref>

In May 2015 five life-sized sculptures, ''Land'', were placed near the centre and at four compass points of the UK in a commission by the [[Landmark Trust]] to celebrate its 50th anniversary. They are at [[Lowsonford]] ([[Warwickshire]]), [[Lundy]] ([[Bristol Channel]]), [[Saddell Bay]] ([[Scotland]]), [[Aldeburgh#Martello Tower|the Martello Tower]] ([[Aldeburgh]], Suffolk), and [[Clavell Tower]] ([[Kimmeridge Bay]], Dorset).<ref name="landmark">{{cite web|url=http://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/news-and-events/50th-anniversary/land/|title=Land – An art installation for all to mark Landmark's 50th year|work=Landmark Trust|access-date=8 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702142330/http://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/news-and-events/50th-anniversary/land|archive-date=2 July 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="bbcland">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-32702277|title=Sir Antony Gormley sculptures placed at five UK beauty spots|publisher=BBC |date=12 May 2015|access-date=8 July 2015}}</ref> The Dorset sculpture was knocked over into Kimmeridge Bay by a storm in September 2015.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-34307101|title=Sir Antony Gormley Kimmeridge Bay statue topples into sea|publisher=BBC News |access-date=22 September 2015|date=20 September 2015}}</ref>

On 6 September 2015, ''[[Another Place]]'' marked the 10th anniversary of its installation at [[Crosby Beach]] in [[Merseyside]]. Gormley commented:
{{blockquote|I'm just delighted by the barnacles!<br />
Every time I'm there, just like any other visitor, you're encouraged to linger a bit longer seeing the tide come in and how many of them disappear. And then you're encouraged to linger further until they're revealed again.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Antony Gormley talks about Another Place |url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/whats-on/arts-culture-news/antony-gormley-talks-another-place-9533774 |work=Liverpool Echo |date=28 June 2015 |access-date=3 February 2016 |first=Catherine |last=Jones}}</ref>}}
In September 2015, Gormley had his first sculpture installed in New Zealand. ''[[Stay (sculptures)|Stay]]'' is a group of identical cast-iron human form sculptures, with the first installed in the [[Avon River / Ōtākaro]] in [[Christchurch]]'s [[Christchurch Central City|central city]], and the other sculpture installed in the nearby [[Christchurch Arts Centre|Arts Centre]] in early 2016.<ref name="Gormley statue installed">{{cite news |last=Campbell |first=Georgina |title=First Gormley statue put in place <!-- printed title; online title was "Gormley statue installed on the Avon River" --> |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/christchurch-life/art-and-stage/visual-art/72528425/gormley-statue-installed-on-the-avon-river |access-date=30 September 2015 |work=[[The Press]] |date=30 September 2015 |page=A3}}</ref>

In 2015 at the [[Belvedere (fort)|Forte di Belvedere]] in [[Florence]], Gormley presented a group of cast iron works that acted as points of "acupuncture" throughout the historical fortress.<ref>{{cite web |title=Human – Exhibitions – Antony Gormley |url=https://www.antonygormley.com/works/exhibitions/human |website=Antony Gormley}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=October 2025}} Gormley returned to Florence in 2018 with the exhibition ''Essere'' at the [[Uffizi|Uffizi Gallery]]. The exhibition featured both historical and recent work, notably ''Room'' from 1980, ''Sense'' from 1991 and ''Passage'' from 2016.

In 2017 Gormley curated ''Inside'', an exhibition at the [[Southbank Centre]], London, presented by the [[Koestler Trust]] showing artworks by prisoners, detainees, and ex-offenders. In addition, he judged their annual category prize, also on the theme "inside".<ref>{{cite web |last=Bankes |first=Ariane |title=Why we need to free art by prisoners from behind bars |url=https://www.apollo-magazine.com/why-we-need-to-free-art-by-prisoners-from-behind-bars/ |website=Apollo |access-date=31 January 2019 |date=8 January 2018}}</ref>

Gormley then held the first solo exhibition at the newly remodelled [[Kettle's Yard]] in [[Cambridge]].{{When|date=April 2024}} Two new bodies of work, known as ''Rooters'' and ''Polyhedra Works'', were shown that year at [[White Cube]] in [[Hong Kong]] and [[Thaddaeus Ropac (galleries)|Thaddaeus Ropac]] in [[Salzburg]], respectively. 

On 21 April 2018, Gormley released a limited edition vinyl album of ambient sounds from his studio for [[Record Store Day]] titled ''Sounds of the Studio''. It consisted of two tracks (one on each side) titled ''Sounds of the Studio (Part 1)'' and ''Sounds of the Studio (Part 2)''. It came with an inner with a [[monochrome]] print of his studio on one side and text by the artist with a photo on the other.<ref>{{Citation |title=Antony Gormley – Sounds Of The Studio (2018, Vinyl) |date=21 April 2018 |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/11900430-Antony-Gormley-Sounds-Of-The-Studio- |language=en |access-date=5 January 2022}}</ref>

In 2019 Gormley populated the island of [[Delos]] with iron "bodyforms" with the exhibition ''Sight''.<ref name="Ina Cole" /> Organised and commissioned by the [[Neon (organization)|NEON]] Organization and presented in collaboration with the Ephorate of Antiquities of [[Cyclades]], the project marked the first time that an artist took over the archaeological site of Delos since the island was inhabited more than 5,000 years ago, and is the first time a contemporary art installation has been unanimously approved by the Greek Archaeological Council of the [[Ministry of Culture and Sports (Greece)|Ministry of Culture]] to take place in Delos, a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/may/04/antony-gormley-delos-island-ancient-greece-new-works |title=Antony Gormley is the new kid on the block in ancient Greece |last=Smith |first=Helena |date=4 May 2019 |work=The Guardian |access-date=13 June 2019 |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/530/ |title=Delos |website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |language=en |access-date=13 June 2019}}</ref><ref name="Sight">{{Cite web |url=https://neon.org.gr/en/exhibition/sight-antony-gormley-delos-island/ |title=Sight {{!}} Antony Gormley on the Island of Delos |website=NEON |language=en-GB |access-date=13 June 2019}}</ref> He installed 29 sculptures made during the last 20 years, including five new works specially commissioned by the NEON Organization, both at the periphery and integrated amongst Delos's archaeological site and museum, animating the geological and archaeological features of the island.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.visitgreece.gr/en/events/sight_exhibition_on_delos_island |title=Visit Greece {{!}} Sight exhibition on Delos Island |website=Visit Greece |access-date=13 June 2019}}</ref>

Also in 2019, the Royal Academy held an exhibition filling its 13 main galleries with Gormley's works, including some new (designed to fit the space), some remade for the gallery, and some of his early sculptures, with two rooms of his drawings and sketchbooks.<ref name="RA 2019">{{cite web |title=Antony Gormley {{!}} 21 September – 3 December 2019 |url=https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/antony-gormley |publisher=Royal Academy of Arts |access-date=22 November 2019}}</ref>

In 2020 Gormley was confirmed to be "lending" a sculpture to [[Kirklees College]] to sit atop its new building at Pioneer House in [[Dewsbury]], as part of a major redevelopment in the town.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

In 2022 a Gormley sculpture called ''Alert'' was installed on the main campus of [[Imperial College London]]. The installation raised objections from the student body due to its perceived "phallic" interpretation.<ref>{{cite news |last=Khomami |first=Nadia |date=3 August 2022 |title=Antony Gormley's 'phallic' statue may damage our reputation, say students |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/aug/03/antony-gormley-phallic-statue-imperial-college |access-date=28 April 2023 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

That year, Gormley also held exhibitions at [[Xavier Hufkens]] in [[Brussels]], [[Lehmbruck Museum]] in [[Duisburg|Duisburg, Germany]] and [[Museum Voorlinden]] in [[Wassenaar]], the Netherlands. In Duisburg, his work was placed in dialogue with [[Wilhelm Lehmbruck]]'s expressionistic, elongated sculptures. Gormley's ''Reflection II'' has remained on display at the museum.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}  

In 2023 Gormley opened a number of large-scale exhibitions, including ''Living Time'' at TAG Art Museum in [[Qingdao]], China, and ''Critical Mass'' at [[Musée Rodin]] in [[Paris]], which marked the first time that a living artist has been invited to exhibit in all areas of the museum, including the [[Hôtel Biron]]. As part of the exhibition, Gormley showed his major artwork ''Critical Mass II'', a sculpture comprising 60 cast iron bodies, in and around the museum and its grounds. Inside the Hôtel Biron, Gormley placed four sculptures in dialogue with Rodin's own work and also selected a number of his working models to be seen alongside Rodin's plaster maquettes. Later in the year, Gormley opened ''Body Politic'' at [[White Cube]] in London, a solo exhibition of new sculptures responding to themes of movement and containment, as well as the topic of migration. As part of the exhibition, a new installation, ''Resting Place'', filled a room with 244 bodies built from fired bricks, and a row of what the artist calls concrete "bunkers" ran down the gallery's central corridor.

In 2024 ''Time Horizon'', an installation of 100 cast iron sculptures, opened at [[Houghton Hall]] in [[Norfolk]]. The installation responded to the specific landscape of the parkland and the history of the hall. Gormley also unveiled ''True, for Alan Turing'' at [[King's College, Cambridge]]. This sculpture, made from slabs of Corten steel, celebrates the life and enduring influence of mathematician and computer scientist [[Alan Turing]]. Speaking on the sculpture, Gormley stated "Alan Turing unlocked the door between the industrial and the information ages. I wanted to make the best sculpture I could to honour a man who was pivotal in changing the course of all our lives. It is not about the memorialisation of a death, but about a celebration of the opportunities that a life allowed".<ref>{{cite web |title=New sculpture celebrates the legacy of Alan Turing |url=https://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/news/2024/new-sculpture-celebrates-legacy-alan-turing |website=King's College Cambridge |language=en}}</ref>

Gormley's first solo exhibition in [[New York City]] in more than eight years opened at [[White Cube]] and ran until June 2024. The artist exhibited a new site-specific installation titled ''Aerial'', from which the exhibition took its name. This sculpture was made from horizontal and vertical aluminium bars that filled the room like "whiskers" and visitors were invited to enter and find their way through this space.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Antony Gormley, New York (2024) |url=https://www.whitecube.com/gallery-exhibitions/antony-gormley-new-york-2024 |access-date=10 July 2024 |website=White Cube |language=en-GB}}</ref>

From 13 September 2025 to 4 January 2026, the [[Nasher Sculpture Center]] in Dallas is exhibiting ''Survey: Antony Gormley'', the first major exhibition of his work in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Survey: Antony Gormley September 13, 2025 - January 4, 2026 |url=https://www.nashersculpturecenter.org/art/exhibitions/exhibition/id/2156 |access-date=9 September 2025 |website=Nasher Sculpture Center}}</ref>&nbsp;The exhibit spanned the breath of Gormley's work.&nbsp;In conjunction with the exhibit, Gormley installed works on the rooftops of skyscrapers in and around downtown Dallas.

==Recognition==
Gormley won the [[Turner Prize]] in 1994 with ''[[Field (sculpture)|Field for the British Isles]]''. 

Gormley has been a [[Royal Academy of Arts|Royal Academician]] since 2003, and was a trustee of the [[British Museum]] from 2007 to 2015. He is an honorary fellow of the [[Royal Society of Arts]] and the [[Royal Institute of British Architects]], honorary doctor of the universities of [[Teesside University|Teesside]], [[University of Liverpool|Liverpool]], [[University College London]], and [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]], and a fellow of [[Trinity College, Cambridge|Trinity]] and [[Jesus College, Cambridge|Jesus Colleges]], Cambridge. In October 2010, along with 100 other leading artists, he signed an open letter to then Culture Minister [[Jeremy Hunt (politician)|Jeremy Hunt]] protesting cutbacks in the arts.<ref>Walker, Peter, [https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2010/oct/01/artists-open-letter-jeremy-hunt "Turner Prize winners lead protest against arts cutbacks"], ''The Guardian'', 1 October 2010.</ref>

On 13 March 2011, Gormley was awarded the [[Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance]] for the [[set design]] for ''Babel (Words)'' at [[Sadler's Wells]] in collaboration with [[Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui]] and Damien Jalet.<ref>[http://www.olivierawards.com/nominations/view/item114065/Outstanding-Achievement-in-Dance/ "Outstanding Achievement in Dance"] {{webarchive |url=https://archive.today/20120113070326/http://www.olivierawards.com/nominations/view/item114065/Outstanding-Achievement-in-Dance/ |date=13 January 2012}} on the Olivier Awards website</ref> He was the recipient of the Obayashi Prize in 2012 and is the 2013 [[Praemium Imperiale]] laureate for sculpture. Gormley was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] in the [[2014 New Year Honours]] for services to the arts, having previously been appointed [[Officer of the Order of the British Empire|OBE]] in [[1998 New Year Honours|1998]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=60728 |supp=y|page=1|date=31 December 2013}}</ref><ref>United Kingdom list: {{London Gazette |date=30 December 1997 |issue=54993 |pages=1–28 |supp=1}}</ref>

For ''Room'' he received the 2015 [[Marsh Award for Excellence in Public Sculpture]].<ref name="MCT">{{cite web |title=Marsh Award for Excellence in Public Sculpture |url=https://www.marshchristiantrust.org/award/marsh-award-for-excellence-in-public-sculpture/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402135402/https://www.marshchristiantrust.org/award/marsh-award-for-excellence-in-public-sculpture/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=2 April 2019 |publisher=Marsh Christian Trust |access-date=2 April 2019}}</ref>

In 2008 ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' ranked Gormley number four in their list of the "100 most powerful people in [[Culture of the United Kingdom|British culture]]".<ref>{{cite news |title=The 100 most powerful people in British culture |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3672604/The-100-most-powerful-people-in-British-culture-1-20.html |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=9 November 2016}}</ref>

In June 2025, Gormley was appointed a [[Order of the Companions of Honour|Companion of Honour]] in the [[2025 Birthday Honours|Birthday Honours]] by [[King Charles III]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Davies |first=Caroline |date=13 June 2025 |title=Gary Oldman and Roger Daltrey knighted in king's birthday honours |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/jun/13/gary-oldman-roger-daltrey-knighted-king-birthday-honours |work=The Guardian |access-date=9 October 2025}}</ref>

==Collections==
Gormley's work is held in major public and private collections around the world, including the [[Arts Council England|Arts Council of England]]; [[Tate]], London; [[British Museum]], London; [[British Council]], England; [[National Galleries Scotland|National Galleries of Scotland]], Edinburgh; [[Royal Academy of Arts|Royal Academy of Art]]s, London; [[Victoria and Albert Museum]], London; [[Wellcome Collection]], London; [[Art Gallery of New South Wales]], Sydney; [[National Gallery of Australia]], Canberra; [[Middelheim Open Air Sculpture Museum|Middelheim Museum]], Antwerp; [[Louisiana Museum of Modern Art]], Humblebaek; [[Centre Pompidou|Centre Georges Pompidou]], Paris; [[Lehmbruck Museum]], Duisburg; SCHAUWERK Sindelfingen, Sindelfingen; [[M+]], Hong Kong; [[Irish Museum of Modern Art]], Dublin; [[Uffizi|Uffizi Gallery]], Florence; [[National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo|National Museum of Modern Art]], Tokyo; [[Museum Voorlinden]], Wassenaar; [[Hermitage Museum|State Hermitage Museum]], St. Petersburg; [[Malmö Konsthall|Malmo Konsthall]], Malmo; [[PinchukArtCentre|Pinchuk Art Centre]], Kyiv; [[List Visual Arts Center|MIT List Visual Arts Center]], Cambridge, Massachusetts; [[Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles|Museum of Contemporary Art]], Los Angeles; [[The Phillips Collection|Phillips Collection]], Washington D.C.; [[San Francisco Museum of Modern Art]], San Francisco; [[Walker Art Center]], Minneapolis, Minnesota; [[Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park]], Grand Rapids, Michigan; and [[Yale Center for British Art]], New Haven, Connecticut.<ref>{{cite web |title=Antony Gormley |url=https://ropac.net/gallery-documents/7/ |website=Thaddaeus Ropac |language=en}}</ref>

==Art market==
Gormley's auction record is £3,401,250 for a [[maquette]] of the ''[[Angel of the North]]'', set at [[Christie's]], London, on 14 October 2011.<ref>{{cite web |title=Antony Gormley (b. 1950) |url=https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-5486848/?intObjectID=5486848&from=searchresults&intObjectID=5486848&sid=7c907c33-e70c-48cb-844c-33b1153d522c |website=Christie's |access-date=9 October 2025}}</ref>

==Personal life ==
While at the Slade School of Fine Art, Gormley met [[Vicken Parsons]], who was to become his assistant, and in 1980, his wife, as well as a successful artist in her own right.<ref name="AGBH" /><ref name="Phillips">{{cite news |last=Phillips |first=Sarah |date=6 February 2012 |title=How we made: Vicken Parsons and Antony Gormley on Bed |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2012/feb/06/vicken-parsons-antony-gormley-bed |work=The Guardian |access-date=9 January 2016}}</ref> The couple have a daughter and two sons,<ref name="NAgain">{{cite news |date=20 March 2012 |title=Never again, says Antony Gormley's wife after they create first joint artwork |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/never-again-says-antony-gormley-s-wife-after-they-create-first-joint-artwork-7578828.html |work=Evening Standard |access-date=9 January 2016}}</ref><ref name="Jones">{{cite news |last=Jones |first=Alice |date=8 May 2015 |title=Sir Antony Gormley interview: 'I don't have any choice over this: it's what I was born to do' |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/sir-antony-gormley-interview-i-don-t-have-any-choice-over-this-its-what-i-was-born-to-do-10236697.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/sir-antony-gormley-interview-i-don-t-have-any-choice-over-this-its-what-i-was-born-to-do-10236697.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |work=The Independent |access-date=9 January 2016}}</ref> and live in a converted [[gasholder]] in [[King's Cross, London]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Healy |first1=Rachael |title=Antony Gormley joins fight against 'destruction' of historic King's Cross site |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/article/2024/aug/31/antony-gormley-joins-fight-against-destruction-of-historic-kings-cross-site |website=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=24 October 2025 |date=31 August 2024}}</ref>

Gormley is a patron of [[Paintings in Hospitals]], a charity that provides art for health and social care in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wrathall |first=Claire |date=13 October 2017 |title=Exploring the palliative power of art |url=https://howtospendit.ft.com/articles/201859the-philanthropists-exploring-art-s-palliative-power |access-date=18 December 2018 |website=Financial Times |language=en}}{{Dead link|date=October 2019|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>

In June 2022, Gormley said that he had applied for [[German citizen]]ship, to which he is entitled through his German mother, after describing [[Brexit]] as "a practical disaster" and a "betrayal".<ref name="Boztas" />

In 2024 he donated £500,000 to the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]]. It was his first political donation after previously donating to the [[Green Party of England and Wales|Green Party]] in 2023.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kersley |first=Andrew |date=21 August 2024 |title=The Big Money Donors who Ditched Other Parties to Bankroll Labour's General Election Landslide |url=https://bylinetimes.com/2024/08/21/labour-donors-general-election/ |publisher=Byline Times |access-date=11 June 2025}}</ref>

==Major works==
[[File:Antony Gormley 'Brick Man' maquette - 2025-01-23 - Andy Mabbett - 01.jpg|thumb|upright|Maquette for Gormley's proposed ''[[Brick Man]]'' sculpture, at [[Leeds City Art Gallery]] ]]

[[File:Angel of the North viewed from East Coast Mainline train.jpg|thumb|alt=Statue viewed in the distance across fields. Railway overhead power lines can be seen in the immediate foreground|''Angel of the North'' viewed from a train on the nearby East Coast Mainline]]

[[File:M+ 安東尼．葛姆雷：亞洲土地 Antony Gormley - Asian Field, 2021.jpg|thumb|''Asian Field'' at [[M+]], 2021]]

Gormley's website includes images of nearly all of his works and exhibitions up to 2024. The most notable include:

* ''Bed'' (1981) – purchased by the [[Tate Britain|Tate Gallery]]<ref name="Phillips" />
* ''Sound II'' (1986) – in the [[crypt]] of [[Winchester Cathedral]], Winchester, Hampshire, England
* ''[[Brick Man]]'' – never commissioned, but a [[maquette]] (1986) is in [[Leeds City Art Gallery]]
* ''[[Field (sculpture)|Field]]'' (1991; and subsequent recreations)
* ''[[Iron:Man]]'' (1993) – [[Victoria Square, Birmingham]], England
* ''[[Havmann]]'' (1995) – [[Mo i Rana]], [[Norway]]
* ''[[Another Place (sculpture)|Another Place]]'' (1997) – permanently installed at [[Crosby Beach]] near [[Liverpool]], England<ref>[http://www.antonygormley.com/sculpture/item-view/id/230#p0 "Another Place"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120508103600/http://www.antonygormley.com/sculpture/item-view/id/230#p0 |date=8 May 2012}} on Antony Gormley's official website</ref>
* ''[[Quantum Cloud]]'' (1999) – [[Greenwich]], London, England
* ''Broken Column'' (1999–2003) – [[Stavanger]], [[Norway]]<ref>Karlsen, Gar. [http://gardkarlsen.com/broken_column.htm "Broken Column"]</ref>
* ''[[Angel of the North]]'' (1998) – Low Fell (overlooking the A1 and A167 roads), [[Gateshead]], Tyne and Wear, England
* ''Present Time'' (2001) – at [[Mansfield College, Oxford]]
* ''Planets'' (2002) – at the [[British Library]], London.<ref>Preece, R. J. (2003). [http://www.artdesigncafe.com/Antony-Gormley-Planets-British-Library-London-2003 "Antony Gormley: ''Planets'' at British Library, London"], [[Sculpture (magazine)|Sculpture]] / artdesigncafe. Retrieved 1 September 2011.</ref><ref name="Ina Cole" />
* ''Filter'' (2002) – acquired by [[Manchester Art Gallery]], Manchester, England, in 2009
* ''Earthbound: Plant'' (2002) – [[McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research]], [[Downing Site]], [[University of Cambridge]]<ref name="UC">{{Cite web |date=2 December 2016 |title=Celebrated sculptor Sir Antony Gormley unveils sculpture at University of Cambridge |url=https://www.cam.ac.uk/news/celebrated-sculptor-sir-antony-gormley-unveils-sculpture-at-university-of-cambridge |access-date=6 April 2025 |website=University of Cambridge |language=en}}</ref>
* ''Inside Australia'' (2003) – permanent exhibition at [[Lake Ballard]], Western Australia<ref name="Ina Cole" />
* ''Time Horizon'' – the Archaeological Park of Scolacium near [[Catanzaro]] in Calabria, Southern Italy<ref>[http://www.intersezioni.eu/main.html Time Horizon] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070110201744/http://www.intersezioni.eu/main.html |date=10 January 2007}}, Archaeological Park of Scolacium</ref>
* ''Ferment'' (2007)<ref>Higgins, Hannah B. ''The Grid Book'' Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 2009. pp. 273–74 {{ISBN|978-0-262-51240-4}}</ref>
* ''Blind Light'' (2007) –  [[Hayward Gallery]], [[South Bank]], London
* ''[[Event Horizon (sculpture)|Event Horizon]]'' (2007) – along the [[South Bank]] of the [[River Thames|Thames]], London, England; (2010) around [[Madison Square]], New York City; 2012 in [[São Paulo]], Brazil; 2015–16 in Hong Kong
* ''Reflection II'' (2008) – acquired by [[DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park]], [[Lincoln, Massachusetts]], in 2009
* ''One & Other'' (6 July – 14 October 2009) – [[Trafalgar Square]], London, England<ref name="O&O">[http://www.oneandother.co.uk/ "''One & Other'' — official website"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100107015545/http://www.oneandother.co.uk/ |date=7 January 2010}}, ''OneAndOther.co.uk''. Retrieved 6 August 2009.</ref>
* ''Another Time XI'' (2009) – sculpture on top of [[Exeter College, Oxford]], overlooking [[Broad Street, Oxford|Broad Street]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ropac.net/artist/antony-gormley |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216022917/http://ropac.net/artist/antony-gormley |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 February 2012 |title=Antony Gormley – Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac |publisher=Ropac |access-date=26 March 2014}}</ref>
* ''[[Horizon Field]]'' (2010–2012) – sculpture installation in the [[Austrian Alps]]
* ''[[Exposure (sculpture)|Exposure]]'' (2010) – [[Lelystad]], Netherlands
* ''Cloud Chain'' (2010) – [[Archives nationales (France)|Les Archives Nationales]], Paris, France
* ''[[Transport (sculpture)|Transport]]'' (2011) – Crypt of [[Canterbury Cathedral]], Kent, England
* ''Mothership with Standing Matter'' (2011) – [[Lillehammer]], Norway<ref>{{cite web |url=http://skulpturstopp.no/en/lillehammer |title=Mothership with Standing Matter by Antony Gormley |access-date=22 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215212610/http://www.skulpturstopp.no/en/lillehammer |archive-date=15 February 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* ''Witness'' (2011) – on the piazza of the British Library, London; commissioned by [[English PEN]] to mark their 90th anniversary<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bl.uk/press-releases/2011/december/the-british-library-unveils-new-antony-gormley-sculpture-to-commemorate-english-pens-90th-anniversar |title=The British Library unveils new Antony Gormley sculpture to commemorate English PEN's 90th anniversary |website=British Library |date=13 December 2011 |access-date=16 April 2015}}</ref>
* ''[[Horizon Field Hamburg]]'' (2012) – [[Deichtorhallen]], Germany
* ''[[Stay (sculptures)|Stay]]'' (2015/16) – [[Christchurch]], New Zealand<ref name="Gormley statue installed" />
* ''DAZE IV'' (2016) – [[Sidgwick Site]], [[University of Cambridge]]<ref name="UC" />
* ''Sight'' (2019) – [[Delos]] Island, [[Mykonos]], [[Greece]]; organised and commissioned by the NEON Organization and presented in collaboration with the Ephorate of Antiquities of [[Cyclades]] of the Greek [[Ministry of Culture and Sports (Greece)|Ministry of Culture and Sports]]<ref name="Sight" />
* ''Witness VII'' and ''Witness VIII'' (2021) – [[École du Louvre]]
* ''Alert'' (2022) – [[Imperial College London]]
* ''True, for Alan Turing'' (2024) – [[King's College, Cambridge]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=True, for Alan Turing, a work by Antony Gormley |url=https://kingscollege.shorthandstories.com/trueforalanturing/ |access-date=23 January 2024 |website=King's College |language=en}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|30em|refs=

<ref name="Ina Cole">{{cite book |editor1-last=Cole |editor-first1=Ina |title=From the Sculptor's Studio: Conversations with Twenty Seminal Artists |year=2021 |publisher=Laurence King Publishing Ltd |pages=78–93 |isbn=9781913947590 |oclc=1420954826}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{external media |width = |float = right |headerimage=[[File:London National Theatre with sculpture.jpg|200px]] |video1 = {{YouTube|-66Su3yN9io|Antony Gormley – The Art Fund}}, [[The Art Fund|ArtFund UK]]}}
{{Library resources box|by=yes|onlinebooks=no|wikititle=Antony Gormley}}
* {{Official website}}
* {{Art UK bio}}
* [http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/gormley_antony.html Antony Gormley] on [[Artcyclopedia]]
<!-- Links below this point should be converted to inline references when relevant content is added to article.-->
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080502135822/http://www.iairp.com/view_project.php?pageID=15&articleID=32 Gormley's exhibition in Guernsey for the International Artist In Residence Programme IAIRP]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090304143113/http://www.headington.org.uk/oxon/broad/news/gormley_statue.html Pictures of Gormley's sculpture in Oxford being erected on 15 February 2009]
* [https://www.sms.cam.ac.uk/media/1119863 Interviewed by Alan Macfarlane 29 April 2009 (video)]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20030416211118/http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/audiointerviews/profilepages/gormleya1.shtml An interview with Gormley by Edward Lucie Smith in RealMedia format]
* [http://www.tate.org.uk/btseries/bb/antonygormley/ Interactive video interview with Gormley and interactive exploration of his work at the Tate Gallery] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090129115002/https://www.tate.org.uk/btseries/bb/antonygormley/ |date=29 January 2009}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101109185857/http://www.wellcomecollection.org/explore/mind--body/topics/imaging-the-body/audio.aspx?view=antony-gormley-and-wellcome Antony Gormley audio: The artist considers his art and his research into the Wellcome collections]
* [http://www.xavierhufkens.com/artists/antony-gormley Antony Gormley] at [[Xavier hufkens]], Brussels
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110801142900/http://channel.tate.org.uk/media/26511962001 Tate: In the Studio: Antony Gormley]. A tour of the artist's studio. 1 September 2007
* [http://www.studiointernational.com/index.php/antony-gormley Studio Visit: Antony Gormley]. London, 4 November 2011
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20170215212610/http://www.skulpturstopp.no/en/lillehammer Gormley's artwork Mothership with Standing Matter in Lillehammer, Norway]
* [http://whitecube.com/artists/antony_gormley/ White Cube]
* [http://channel.louisiana.dk/video/antony-gormley-tour-around-his-studio Antony Gormley. A tour around his studio] Video by [[Louisiana Channel]]
* {{TED speaker}}
* [http://www.racollection.org.uk/ixbin/indexplus?_IXACTION_=file&_IXFILE_=templates/full/person.html&_IXTRAIL_=Academicians&person=8984 Profile on Royal Academy of Arts Collections]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5lCeiC3ois&t=332s Antony Gormley on the sacred island of Delos talking about ''SIGHT'' exhibition]

{{Antony Gormley}}
{{New British Sculpture}}
{{OlivierAward DanceAchievement}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gormley, Antony}}
[[Category:1950 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century British sculptors]]
[[Category:21st-century British sculptors]]
[[Category:Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London]]
[[Category:Alumni of Saint Martin's School of Art]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Artists from London]]
[[Category:English atheists]]
[[Category:English contemporary artists]]
[[Category:English male sculptors]]
[[Category:English people of German descent]]
[[Category:English sculptors]]
[[Category:Green Party of England and Wales donors]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Labour Party (UK) donors]]
[[Category:Laurence Olivier Award winners]]
[[Category:Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:People educated at Ampleforth College]]
[[Category:People from Hampstead]]
[[Category:People from Kings Cross, London]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Praemium Imperiale]]
[[Category:Royal Academicians]]
[[Category:Trustees of the British Museum]]
[[Category:Turner Prize winners]]