Celebrated British sculptor Antony Gormley unveils his latest sculpture in Cambridge

Honorary Fellow and celebrated sculptor Sir Antony Gormley welcomed his life-size sculpture of the human form, Daze IV, to its new home on the University’s Sidgwick Site today.

The sculpture was originally situated on Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations at the Landmark Trust. It is part of Gormley’s Land series of sculptures which the artists dubbed “standing stones: markers in space and time… catalysts for reflection.”

Daze IV joins other Gormley sculptures already in Cambridge, including one of the Learning to See series in Jesus College’s Quincentenary Library. It is a single standing figure, with feet together and arms at sides in an attitude of watchful repose, based on a cast of the artist's body. The sculpture mutes any individuating features to insist on what is typical of the human form. Earthbound: Plant, a life-size metal sculpture of the human form buried upside down with only the soles of the feet visible, can be seen in front of the MacDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.

Gormley studied archaeology, anthropology and the history of art at Trinity College, graduating in 1971. Over the last 25 years he has revitalised the human image in sculpture through a radical investigation of the body as a place of memory and transformation, using his own body as subject, tool and material. Best known for his Angel of the North sculpture in Gateshead, Gormley was awarded the Turner Prize in 1994, the South Bank Prize for Visual Art in 1999 and was knighted in 2014. He has been a member of the Royal Academy since 2003.

The reception for the sculpture’s arrival, hosted by the School of Arts and Humanities, was attended by Gormley, Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz and other University and College staff. The sculpture is on loan to the University for 10 years.