Artist Research #1: Tony Cragg (Sculptor)

Tony Cragg

For our first artist research of the semester we were to choose from the list of sculptors on the syllabus. After browsing a few works by different artists I became interested in the work of Tony Cragg. His works tend to be metallic, blobby, twisted, abstract forms that I consider very visually pleasing. Some are very simple and some can be very complicated with much detail. Although most of his works are very abstract, they pull the viewer in and encourage them to look deeper at the piece to figure it out. This is something I feel a lot of abstract sculptors and installationists tend to miss. These other artists make objects that are too alien and instantly shut off any interest in most viewers.

Tony Cragg was born in Liverpool during the year 1949. Following a short period of working as a laboratory technician at the Natural Rubber Producers Research Association, Cragg first attended the Gloucestershire College of Art and Design where he studied foundation courses. Later, he achieved his BA from the Wimbledon College of Art and his MA from the Royal College of Art in London.

Early in his career, Cragg experimented with several different found materials hoping to develop "an alphabet of sculpture". This allowed him to gain experience with several different types of objects and methods of manipulation. His later work shows a transition into manipulations of surfaces, using materials such as bronze, steel, plastic, rubber, glass, wood, plaster, etc. These are some of his more popular works. A series developed out of this interest which focused on the body as a container or vessel for the mind and spirit. A later series by Cragg, known as "Rational Beings" portrays arcades of columns showing his shift from organic forms to finite profile edges.