Phillip King

Cross-Bend (1978/79) bucks and twists as it springs from the ground and arches its way to the mezzanine roof of the EPO's Isar building. Gaps between the vaulting, sinuous cuboids create spaces that evoke lightness and agility. The sculpture is a conscious foil to the orthogonal geometrics of architects Gerkan, Marg and Partners' building. Phillip King (*1934 Tunis, TN) abstracts organic and amorphous structures and translates them into steel, creating tension at the transition between materiality and immateriality. In this manner, King's work references that of sculptor Henry Moore (*1898 Castleford, GB; †1986 Much Hadham, GB), who pioneered this juxtaposition in his abstract female figures. For King, however, the focus remains on the contrast between nature and materiality. Inspired by Anthony Caro (*1924 New Malden, GB; †2013 London, GB), King translates polymorphic forms into an industrial material, visibly endowing the steel with characteristics at odds with its nature. His work, which builds on the aesthetic of the European avant-garde in post-war sculpture, is based on the re-interpretation of nature and belongs to the long tradition of abstraction.