The human body and its relation to the space around it have been at the core of Anthony Gormley’s work for close to 40 years. With impressive large scale installations of his steel sculptures at the seaside and in the mountains he reached a large audience and opened new possibilities for contemporary sculpture.
In 2009 Gormley staged his project 'One and other' on the 'Fourth Plinth' of Trafalgar Square. This huge plinth had been created in the 19th century for an equestrian statue of William IV which was never realised. The plinth has been empty since then. In 1998 the city authorities conceived an art project - 'The Fourth Plinth Project' - by which contemporary artists are invited to develop a temporary project for the plinth. Gormley’s project lasted for a period of 100 days. During this time the huge plinth was continuously occupied by one person as a self-exhibiting, living sculpture. 2,400 people participated in the project.
He received the Turner Prize in 1994, the Bernhard-Heiliger-Award for Sculpture in 2007 and was represented at documenta 8 in Kassel.
