On July 11, 1986, British sculptor Anish Kapoor attended the Members' Preview of his eponymous exhibition at the Albright-Knox.
At the time, Kapoor was creating elegant and mysterious sculptures coated with intensely colored powdered pigment, suggesting supernatural apparitions reminiscent of elegant architectural forms, exotic flora, and erotic shapes. The Albright-Knox's exhibition, which was on view from July 12 to August 24, 1986, included several such works, including Dark, 1986, a four-part mixed media sculpture, and Untitled, 1984, a mixed media wall piece covered with blue pigment.
Installation view of Anish Kapoor. Image courtesy of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery Digital Assets Collection and Archives, Buffalo, New York.
Anish Kapoor (Indian, active in London, born 1954). Dark, 1986. Wood, polystyrene, plaster, fiberglass, cloth, gesso and raw pigment, small piece: 10 x 10 x 21 inches (25.4 x 25.4 x 53.3 cm); fluted gourd-shaped piece: 26 x 26 x 37 inches (66 x 66 x 94 cm); round foliate piece: 27 x 27 x 28 inches (68.6 x 68.6 x 71.1 cm); vertical piece: 120 x 24 1/2 x 30 inches (304.8 x 62.2 x 76.2 cm). Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York; Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Armand J. Castellani, 1996 (1996:5.1a-d). © 1986 Anish Kapoor.
Anish Kapoor's Untitled, 1984, in Anish Kapoor. Image courtesy of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery Digital Assets Collection and Archives, Buffalo, New York.
Guests at the Members' Preview for Anish Kapoor at the Albright-Knox, July 11, 1986. Image courtesy of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery Digital Assets Collection and Archives, Buffalo, New York.
Anish Kapoor was accompanied by an illustrated brochure with a text by Assistant Curator Helen Raye, who organized the exhibition. Gladstone Gallery owner Barbara Gladstone and Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University founder Armand Castellani also attended the exhibition preview.
