The Barbarians are coming

The Barbarians (2000/2002)

Following their display at the IVAM (Institut Valencià d'Art Modern) in March/April 2006, to coincide with the presentation of the Julio Gonzalez International Award to Sir Anthony Caro, The Barbarians travelled to Galeria Alvaro Alcazar, Madrid as part of a larger exhibition in April/June 2008 and then to the Musée des Beaux Arts et de la Dentelle in Calais where they were shown with works from the Trojan War and Kenwood series from September 2008 to February 2009, as part of a three-part retrospective also involving museums in Dunkirk and Gravelines.

A group of six wild horsemen brandishing spears, bows and whips accompany a lonely figure on a chariot pulled by an ox. Together they comprise The Barbarians - the latest sculpture installation by Sir Anthony Caro, internationally renown as one of the greatest modernist sculptors of our time. On a closer look we see that the warriors are riding horses made from ' vaulting horses' more familiar in a gymnasium than in a sculpture context. They are charging at us and we are quickly enveloped by their fierce energy. We are left wondering whether their roots are mythological or a haunting reminder of the present.

The Barbarians, shown at the Mitchell-Innes & Nash Gallery, New York in autumn 2002, Annely Juda Fine Art, London in spring 2003,  and the Seoul Museum of Art in winter 2004, are made from a combination of stoneware, wood and steel - a medium that Caro also used with his famous Last Judgement installation sculpture, which has been compared to Picasso's Guernica, first seen at the 1999 Venice Biennale and most recently as part of his exhibition in Barcelona at Gaudi's La Pedrera building.