Anish Kapoor artworks coming to Liverpool Cathedral unveiled

Liverpool Cathedral will welcome world-renowned artist Anish Kapoor this week as part of its 100th anniversary celebrations.

The exhibition is called Monadic Singularity and is running from 10 August – 15 September 2024.

Monadic Singularity marks Kapoor’s first solo show in a UK cathedral and his first major solo exhibition in Liverpool since his seminal 1983 exhibit at the Walker Art Gallery. 

Anish Kapoor has become world-celebrated for his innovative and thought-provoking works. Since exhibiting his seminal pigment sculptures in the early 80’s, he has gone on to create artworks that traverse the traditional categories of painting, sculpture and architecture. Many of his monumentally scaled public works becoming iconic landmarks such as Cloud Gate (2004) (known affectionately as “The Bean”) in Millennium Park, Chicago, Nottingham Playhouse’s Sky Mirror (2001) and Temenos (2010) in Middlesbrough. Kapoor has captivated the art world for over four decades and is now bringing his visionary works to the heart of Liverpool.

Featuring works spanning the past 25 years, including the architecturally scaled sculpture never before seen in the UK, Sectional Body Preparing for Monadic Singularity (2015), the exhibition offers the opportunity to experience the diversity of sculptural languages that Kapoor’s art embraces in dialogue with the cathedral’s spectacular gothic architecture. The Main Space will feature a breathtaking kinetic wax sculpture, while additional works displayed across the cathedral creating a unique experience in an environment so redolent with contemplation and reverie.

In an era where digital distractions abound, Kapoor’s artworks bring us back to our bodies, and to an inner space that invites audiences to pause, reflect, and connect with deeper spiritual dimensions, echoing the cathedral’s daily explorations of faith and existence. This landmark show is a must-see for art lovers and spiritual seekers alike and a highlight in Liverpool Cathedral’s year-long centenary celebrations, commemorating its consecration in 1924.

Anish Kapoor said of this momentous occasion:

 “To show works in Liverpool Cathedral is complex. It is a space that is alive both with the physical and spiritual. As such it is resonant with a powerful sense of body and the disembodied. The works that I have chosen to show in the cathedral are situated similarly between body and materiality and geometric immaterial which I refer to as the non-object.  It is my hope that this conjunction of object and non-object here in this immense and potent space will be cause for reflection on the nature of religious experience and the human condition.”

The Very Reverend Dr Sue Jones, Dean of Liverpool, said: 

“As we commemorate the centenary of our Cathedral’s consecration, it is a privilege to welcome the iconic Anish Kapoor to our iconic building and sacred space. Our Cathedral stands as a place of Encounter, and we invite everyone to experience Kapoor’s extraordinary art within our historic walls. This exhibition promises to be a profound meeting of creativity and spirituality, and we hope it inspires all who visit.”

He continued: “The exhibition is made possible by the generous support of Culture Liverpool and the Liverpool BID Company, as well as partners Lisson Gallery and Boodles. Hospitality is provided in partnership with Novotel Paddington Village and Hope Street Hotel. With additional thanks to the Granada Foundation and all our supporters who wish to remain anonymous. 

This exhibition has also been made possible as a result of the Government Indemnity Scheme. Liverpool Cathedral would like to thank HM Government for providing Government Indemnity and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and Arts Council England for arranging the indemnity.”

The exhibition will be open to the public for free from 10th August to 15th September. For more information head to the Liverpool Cathedral website HERE.

Don’t miss this once in a lifetime opportunity to witness history in the making.  

Love history? We take you back in time, delving into Liverpool’s past in our history archives HERE.