Liverpool Cathedral is set to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2024 with a unique exhibition by the legendary British-Indian sculptor Anish Kapoor. Renowned for his iconic artworks like Chicago’s Cloud Gate (2004) and Svayambhu (2007) a vast train of wax that squeezed through the rooms of the Royal Academy in London in 2009, Kapoor has captivated the art world for over four decades, and now, he’s bringing his visionary works to the heart of Liverpool.
Monadic Singularity brings together works that offer an experience of the sublime that is rooted in the corporeal. Staged in the spiritual context of the Cathedral, where significant moments in life such as birth and death are celebrated and ritualised, these artworks in all their evocation of the body, provide connection and inspire awe. Kapoor’s work is saturated in the sense of an unknown that we unconsciously know, and his use of materials to manipulate our perception of the knowable to alter our understanding of objects, has born a unique sculptural language that inhabits a space of becoming and potential. Pigment, stone, steel, wax and silicone are engineered to the point of a dissolution of boundaries between the material and the immaterial.
Featuring works spanning the past 25 years, including architecturally scaled works never before seen in the UK such as Sectional Body Preparing for Monadic Singularity (2015), this exhibition offers the opportunity to experience a selection of Kapoor’s monumental works in dialogue with the incredible cathedral’s gothic architecture.
In an era where digital distractions abound, Kapoor’s artworks invite audiences to pause, reflect, and connect with deeper spiritual dimensions, echoing the cathedral’s daily explorations of faith and existence. This landmark show is a highlight in Liverpool Cathedral’s year-long centenary celebrations, commemorating its consecration in 1924.
