Anish Kapoor's Dirty Corner Vandalized at Versailles
Anish Kapoor's outdoor sculpture Dirty Corner, installed in the park of the Château de Versailles from June 9 to November 1, 2015, was vandalized when its opening was splattered with yellow paint. The work was intended as a counterpart to Kapoor's 2011 Monumenta installation Leviathan at the Grand Palais in Paris. Leviathan, a monumental pneumatic PVC structure, invited viewers inside a vast, womb-like red space, evoking metaphors of intra-uterine travel, a benevolent leviathan, a heart, a science-fiction vessel, or an infinite cosmos. Kapoor's installation engaged in a complex dialogue with the Grand Palais architecture, using the building's verticality and light to transform the space. The vandalism at Versailles was condemned as an act of intolerance.
Key facts
- Dirty Corner was installed at Château de Versailles from June 9 to November 1, 2015.
- The sculpture's opening was vandalized with yellow paint.
- Leviathan was Kapoor's 2011 Monumenta installation at the Grand Palais.
- Leviathan was a large pneumatic PVC structure viewers could enter.
- The interior was red and evoked a womb, heart, or spaceship.
- Kapoor designed Leviathan in response to the Grand Palais's architecture.
- The vandalism was described as an act of intolerance.
- Raphaël Cuir wrote a text about Leviathan for artpress.
Entities
Artists
- Anish Kapoor
- Raphaël Cuir
Institutions
- Château de Versailles
- Grand Palais
- artpress
Locations
- Versailles
- France
- Paris
Sources
- artpress —