Reference monograph.
This catalogue accompanies Antony Gormley's exhibition Geestgrond at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (23 May-20 September 2026). Combining geest (spirit, mind, breath) and grond (earth, soil, foundation), the title joins matter and mind, grounding thought in material form. This condition runs through Gormley's work, from early lead body cases to recent sculptures where the body remains present and grounded even in its most dematerialised states.
Marking the most comprehensive presentation of Gormley's work in continental Europe, the exhibition unfolds in dialogue with the museum's historic collection and the city of Antwerp. With installation views and over 275 colour plates, a new essay by the curator Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, an extensive chronology-anthology, and the first scholarly study of Gormley's body-cast techniques, the publication traces the roots and ongoing relevance of a practice that asks: what does it mean to be human today?
Antony Gormley (born 1950 in London) gained worldwide fame with his sculptures and monumental installations that focus on the human body in space. His work explores how a person relates to architecture and landscape through the body. With minimal and powerful forms, and materials such as lead and iron, he raises fundamental questions about the position of humanity in relation to nature and the world. Antony Gormley won the Turner Prize in 1994 and has been a member of the Royal Academy since 2003.
