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Last Updated: Friday, 13 June, 2003, 23:36 GMT 00:36 UK
Kapoor moulds artistic success
Kapoor's Marsyas was widely praised
Sculptor Anish Kapoor has been made a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List, following the success of his giant red creation at London's Tate Modern gallery.

Kapoor was born in 1954 in Bombay, India, and has lived and worked in London since the early 1970s.

He studied at the Chelsea School of Art, where alumni include Chris Ofili, Gavin Turk and Gillian Wearing.

The artist rose to prominence in the 1980s and has exhibited worldwide at prestigious galleries such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Stedlijk Museum in Amsterdam.

One of Kapoor's first award wins was the Premio in 1990 when he represented the British Pavilion at the Venice Bienniale.

In the UK, his contribution to modern art was recognised in 1991 when he won the Turner Prize.

Kapoor says his inspiration is drawn from an interest in spirituality and that the heart of his work is "the fear of oblivion, emptiness and the depiction of the void".

Sky Mirror
The Sky Mirror is situated outside the Nottingham Playhouse

But despite his Turner Prize success he did not have his first major exhibition in the UK until 1998, when more than 20 of his pieces went on display at London's Hayward Gallery.

Far from his work being inaccessible to the average person, his teardrop lamp was mass-produced and sold by the Homebase DIY chain.

And he has received commissions to create works in public spaces, including the Nottingham Playhouse where he erected a giant metal dish sculpture called Sky Mirror, which reflected the sky on its shiny surface.

Arguably Kapoor's most ambitious project was the giant Marsyas sculpture which was housed in the cavernous Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern in 2002.

The sculpture, which was 23 metres wide and 35 metres high, consisted of three steel rings, connected by a specially-made red PVC membrane.

It was loved by critics and the public, significantly raising attendances at the Tate Modern.


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