Tony Cragg

The world-renowned British sculptor Tony Cragg is an intriguing combination of artist and scientist, chemist and alchemist, believer and sceptic, whose work has had an immense influence on a whole younger generation of post-formalist sculptors. Born in Liverpool in 1949, Cragg abandoned his scientific background to pursue a career as an artist, and has, over the course of some twenty-five years, evolved a prodigious oeuvre, exhibiting widely and earning international acclaim. His remarkable and extensive body of sculpture, astonishingly diverse, ranges from early works in natural elements to large-scale plastic and wood assemblages, from metal-spiked pieces to smooth, sensual bronzes. This exceptional study of Cragg's sculpture, the fullest and most comprehensive to date, provides a thorough visual survey of work dating from the early 1970s to the present day, tracing the artist's development from his formative years at the Wimbledon School of Art through his conceptual, rather than stylistic, evolution of a sculptural vernacular. Following an introductory critique from Germano Celant, there is an extensive plates section focusing on individual works, bringing out the unique shape, colour and texture of each piece. Interwoven with the photographs are reflections from the artist himself, lending insight and understanding to his methods and motivations. A full reference section, with a short biography, a list of works, an exhibition history and select bibliography, concludes the monograph.