Anish Kapoor’s Largest Outdoor Sculpture Show Includes New Work Plus Famous Sky Mirror

Anish Kapoor’s “Sky Mirror” on the expansive grounds at Houghton Hall is reason alone to travel to Norfolk. As the centerpiece of a spectacular new exhibition of 21 sculptures, this five-meter diameter mirror of stainless steel, reflects and transforms the space around it, turning the world upside down. Or, as Lord Cholmondeley, the current owner of Houghton, says, the mirror angled towards the sky “brings the heavens literally down to earth.” If you visit, be sure to walk past “Sky Mirror” several times as you’ll be rewarded with a completely different experience on each occasion, reflecting the changing sky above.

Anish Kapoor at Houghton Hall was originally due to open in March 2020 but had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The exhibition opened this month and runs until November 2020. A number of measures, including pre-booked tickets, have been put in place, following government guidelines, to allow visitors to safely enjoy the works at Houghton Hall.

Houghton Hall, built in 1722 for Sir Robert Walpole, the first British Prime Minister, is one of England’s foremost examples of Palladian architecture. Designed by prominent Georgian architects Colen Campbell and James Gibbs, Houghton and its estate passed to the Cholmondeley family at the end of the eighteenth century and remains a family home. The house and award-winning gardens have been open to the public since 1976. Houghton’s longstanding connection to the art world is well known, housing one of the world’s greatest private art collections. Robert Walpole’s collection of artworks, which included Roman busts and paintings by Da Vinci, Van Dyck, Rubens and Rembrandt, were sold to Catherine the Great of Russia and the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg now owns more than 120 works from the collection.

With such a cultured heritage, it’s no surprise that the current owners, David and Rose Cholmondeley have established an excellent art program with annual exhibitions. Last year’s exhibition, in collaboration with the Henry Moore Foundation, featured key works by Henry Moore, the most internationally celebrated sculptor of the 20th-century. In 2018 Damien Hirst showed new paintings in the State Rooms at Houghton, together with some of his best-known sculptures in the grounds — the first time the artist showed a large body of work in a country house setting. Richard Long used local carr stone, flint from Castle Acre, trees from the Estate and Cornish slate, in 2017, to create a series of specially commissioned land art pieces. Some of these works remain in place for public viewing. And James Turrells’s light pieces, described as “mind-bending” by the Guardian, were on show in the house and grounds in 2015.

Few would dispute that Turner-prize winner Anish Kapoor is one of the world’s best-known sculptors, most famous for his large and imaginative public artworks that include concave or convex mirrors whose reflections attract and swallow the viewer, granite, onyx and marble structures, with hollows and protrusions and wax sculptures. Who can forget the artist’s monumental “Marsyas” 155 meter long, ten-storey high, PVC and metal sculpture for the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall in 2002? Or the astonishing red wax pieces at his solo show at the Royal Academy in 2009?

Anish Kapoor’s new exhibition features 21 sculptures carefully placed on the grounds and inside Houghton Hall, as well as a selection of drawings and smaller works representative of Kapoor’s ground-breaking body of work created over the past 40 years. Presented together, this series of works ideally complement the classical architecture of the house and the serene beauty of the grounds. Because some of his stone, marble and onyx works weigh between six to nine tons, the vast lawns at the hall had to be reinforced with concrete to prevent the pieces sinking. The stone and marble sculptures outdoors provide an intriguing contrast to and dialogue with the landscape. These works are human in scale and are made up of orifices, folds and abrasions, like the human body. “Grace,” “Liver” and “Sophia,” three sculptures made from Spanish pink marble, are aptly described by Mario Codognato, the curator of this exhibition, as “sensually enigmatic.”

A new body of painted mirror works have taken the place of ancient Roman busts and have made a startling transformation of Houghton’s stone hall. Lord Cholmondeley says “Anish Kapoor is a magician. His elegant, reflective pieces throw back the world in mysterious ways.” Anish Kapoor at Houghton Hall provides an excellent summary of the artist’s work and an extremely satisfying viewing experience for visitors.

Anish Kapoor at Houghton Hall (until 1 November 2020). Open Wednesday - Sunday 11am-5pm. Entry via pre-booked tickets (£16 /Students £10, free to under 18s).