Anthony Caro's Chour de Lumiere (Chapel of Light) opens at the 12th century Eglise de Saint-Jean-Baptiste in Bourbourg, France, along with three major museum shows in Calais, Dunkerque and Gravelines

10-12 October 2008

The Côte d'Opale, Calais' region in Northern France, announces two exceptional and unique events: the inauguration of a spectacular public commission by the artist Anthony Caro at the Eglise Saint-Jean de Baptiste of Bourbourg and a major retrospective in France of the artist's work, presented simultaneously at the museums of Calais, Dunkerque and Gravelines.

Over a period of several years, Anthony Caro has been working on a major series of sculptures and architectural features to form part of the restoration of a chapel at Bourbourg in Northern France, about 12 miles east of Calais. The Chapel of Light is situated in the choir of the Church of St Jean Baptiste. During World War II, a damaged English aircraft crash-landed on the roof of the church in order to avoid the houses in the town, and set it on fire. The church itself was restored, but the choir was separated by a wall from the body of the church and left in ruins until ten years ago. Caro was commissioned by the French Ministry for Culture and Communication to make a sculptural installation that would bring new life to the redundant choir.

Specifically for the project he has designed and built two huge internal oak towers each about 18 feet high. These towers are to be used for musical performances and allow vertical exploration of the church space. Caro has also made a concrete baptismal pool and a spectacular series of steel, wood and terracotta sculptures to fill a series of niches in the walls of the apex to the choir. Various other sculptures complete the east and west naves, linked through a doorway to a large exterior sculpture in corten steel. The sculptures follow the themes of The Creation (relating to the baptismal font) culminating in Adam and Eve. Anthony Caro recognises that this monumental project is an exceptional opportunity for an artist. He stated, 'The light in the church is wonderful and it is such a privilege as an artist to be given a whole space to work with'. Not since Matisse's Chapel in Vence has another artist been given this opportunity.

The Church will be inaugurated on Saturday 11 October 2008 during a weekend of events to include the openings of the three exhibitions in Calais, Dunkerque and Gravelines (see below). A fully illustrated catalogue will be available at the inauguration. The project has been made possible through the kind financial support of: The ERDF( FEDER): The French State, Ministry of Culture and Communication: The Regional Council for the Nord - Pas de Calais: Dunkirk Coastal Area (Dunkerque Grand Littoral): Parliamentary allowance of the Member of the French Assembly M. DECOOL: The SIVOM of the Aa and others. The events have been organized in collaboration with Annely Juda Fine Art.


Schedule of Events - Transport and Hotels - Map - Chapel of Light Pictures

 

Calais, Dunkerque and Gravelines
11 October 2008 - 21/23 February 2009

Anthony Caro: Three part retrospective

This major retrospective of works by Anthony Caro will be shown simultaneously in three museums in Calais, Dunkerque and Gravelines. It will consist of three parts: The Barbarians, The Trojan War and The Kenwood Series at Calais, steel sculptures (1960-2006) at Dunkerque and paper sculptures and 'dialogues with architecture' at Gravelines, allowing complementary points of view into the work of the sculptor from 1960 until today. The joint exhibitions will include almost 100 works, the largest ever show of the artist's work.
 

The Skaian Gate (1993/94)

At the Musée des Beaux-Arts et de la Dentelle, Calais, 28 sculptures will be displayed from three important figurative series The Barbarians, The Trojan War and the Kenwood Series. This show is a survey of Anthony Caro's later figurative works, incorporating large elements of ceramic and wood. The Trojan War series, made in 1993-94, was Caro's first exploration into narrative sculpture taken from a mythological source. From the original series of 39 sculptures, 13 will be shown, depicting some of the mythological gods such as Achilles, Apollo and Aphrodite. The Barbarians, made in 2000-02, was Caro's second major mythological sculpture, one complete installation of imposing horse-backed figures and a horse-drawn cart. The Kenwood Series was Caro's latest series of works in steel, wood and ceramics around a single theme.
 

Child's Tower Room (1983/84)

The Lieu d'Art et d'Action Contemporaine (LAAC), Dunkerque will show a selection of 15 abstract steel works dating from 1960 to 2006 along with Anthony Caro's first major 'architectural' sculpture Child's Tower Room (1983/84). The works in this exhibition were first shown in Angers earlier in the year (see below). Of medium and large scale, they give an insight to Caro's most important themes and sculptures from early painted pieces to the recent galvanised sculpture Slow Passage. They indicate Caro's relentless interest in architecture and spatial exploration. Built and designed during the 1970s, the museum is situated on a site which formerly housed allied gun batteries during World War II.
 

Cathedral (1988/91)

On show at the Musée du Dessin et de l'Estampe originale de Gravelines, Gravelines will be the most comprehensive display of Caro's Paper Sculptures ever seen in one venue: 33 will be on show. The paper sculptures, started in New York in 1981 and continued in Japan in the early 1990s, are on the edge of drawing and sculpture - exploiting Caro's lyricism. To create a dialogue with the architecture of the Powder Room in the Arsenal of Vauban's fortifications, the museum will also present a group of fifteen sculptures: six Table Pieces, eight works from the Arena series (1995) and two from the Duccio series (1999-2000). Outside the museum, the monumental steel work Cathedral (1988-1991) will be on show.

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Musée des Beaux arts d'Angers, France
24 May - 31 September 2008

Anthony Caro

Following its ground-breaking exhibition of drawings and figurative work by Anthony Caro in 1996, Sculptures et dessins figurative 1950-1990, the Musée des Beaux arts d'Angers starts off a veritable Caro feast in Northern France with the largest French retrospective so far of the sculptor's works. The exhibition, which is organised by the museum's chief curator and Caro specialist Patrick le Nouëne, will include 18 large works showing highlights of the sculptor's development from 1960 to 2006 and ranging from the dimensions of a sitting man to the almost 8 metres long Fathom.

The Angers exhibition will dovetail with a major exhibition at Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris from 6 September to 28 October 2008. Further information will be posted nearer the time.

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Royal Academy of Arts, London
9 June - 17 August 2008

Summer Exhibition

This year the visitors to the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition will be welcomed by Anthony Caro's Promenade, which has been chosen for display in the courtyard. The large five-part work was commissioned for a large-scale exhibition of 20th century British sculpture in Paris in 1996 and displayed in a prominent location in the Tuileries. Later it has been shown in Holland Park and Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Made entirely of steel, painted grey-green, the sculpture invites people to interact with it and explore its interior spaces.

The Summer Exhibition, which has been held every year since the Royal Academy's foundation in 1768, is a unique showcase for art of all styles and media, encompassing paintings, sculpture, drawings, prints and architectural models. Last year, it drew over 150,000 visitors. It is curated by an annually rotating committee, whose members are all practising artists, and includes some 1,200 works, mostly for sale. After declining the invitation to become a Royal Academician on several occasions, Sir Anthony Caro was finally persuaded by then new President, Sir Philip King (a former student of Caro's at St Martin's School of Art) to accept membership in 2004, and he has exhibited in every Summer Exhibition since then. This year he will be showing two drawings and a model of the Chapel of Light, described above, as well as Promenade, thus being represented in no less than three of the different categories included in the exhibition.

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National Portrait Gallery, St Martins Place, London
20 March - 7 September 2008, Room 32

Anthony Caro: Portraits

Although Anthony Caro is best known for his abstract sculpture in steel and other materials, he has also made occasional figurative works throughout his career. This display reveals a little-known aspect of his work by bringing together a series of bronze heads of Sheila Girling, the artist's wife and a fine painter in her own right, which were made in 1988.

Head of Lord Goodman (1988)

The exhibition supplements the display of Anthony Caro's bust of Lord Goodman, on show to the public for the first time as part of the re-hang of the National Portrait Gallery's late 20th century collection in the Balcony Gallery. The 'Artists and Sitters' display groups portraits of artists, allowing visitors a clearer sense of particular styles while also showing the great variety of approaches to portraiture in the late 20th century.

Press release

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New Art Centre, Roche Court, Salisbury
From mid-March 2008

Following the very successful joint exhibition of works by Anthony Caro and his painter-wife Sheila Girling in 2007, Roche Court has been chosen for the display of the important work Millbank Steps, made of corteen steel. The sculpture was commissioned especially for the major retrospective at Tate Britain in 2005 to celebrate Caro's 80th birthday, when it was sited in the Duveen Galleries. A further development of a theme explored in Halifax Steps and Goodwood Steps, it is one of Caro's most ambitious works, once again exploring the relationship between sculpture and architecture. The internal spaces of the structure will encourage visitors to interact with the sculpture and it will look magnificent in the landscape. The sculpture is for sale and the artist hopes it will eventually be sited in a major architectural project somewhere in the world. Alongside Millbank Steps, a number of works from the Flats series (1974) shown last year remain on show at Roche Court.

Press release

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