Antony Gormley’s Time Horizon (2006) – one of his largest and most dramatic installations to date – can be seen in the UK for the first time, at Houghton Hall in Norfolk (until 31 October). The work was first displayed in 2006 in the olive groves and ruins of an Italian archaeological park; here it appears in the landscaped gardens of an English country house. A hundred life-sized nude figures have been planted across some 300 acres; each figure is placed at the same height regardless of ground level, meaning that some are buried as deep as their forehead while others stand raised on columns several metres high. One, in the house, is buried up to its waist in a flagstone floor. Gormley’s trademark cast-iron figures are, as ever, modelled on the artist himself. Indoors, an exhibition by the ceramic artist Magdalene Odundo refers to the human body in less literal fashion – the curves of her burnished vessels are often suggestive of necks, backs or waists. Odundo’s works are dotted throughout Houghton’s State Rooms, their elegant restraint acting as a foil to the opulent surroundings (until 29 September).
Find out more from Houghton Hall’s website.
Preview below | View Apollo’s Art Diary
Installation view of Time Horizon (2006) by Antony Gormley at Houghton Hall. Photo: Pete Huggins; courtesy Houghton Hall; © the artist
Installation view of Time Horizon (2006) by Antony Gormley at Houghton Hall. Photo: Theo Christelis; courtesy Houghton Hall; © the artist
Installation view of Time Horizon (2006) by Antony Gormley at Houghton Hall. Photo: Theo Christelis; courtesy Houghton Hall; © the artist