In the 1980s, Tony Cragg became part of the New English Sculpture movement. Heir to New Realism and Neo-Dadaism, the artist used everyday objects and detritus as the basic materials for colorful figurative compositions. He then turned to working with wood, glass, bronze and polished steel. His most recent works present abstract and organic forms, accumulations of strata and volutes.
Tony Cragg's work has been exhibited worldwide. In 1988, he represented the UK at the Venice Biennale. In 2011, the Musée du Louvre invited him to confront his sculptures with those of Messerschmidt. The Musée d'art moderne de Saint-Etienne Métropole is devoting an exhibition to him until January 2014.
Tony Cragg is the winner of the Turner Prize (1988) and the Praemium Imperial Prize (2007).
Since 1977, he has lived and worked in Wuppertal (Germany), where he opened a sculpture park in 2008. Since 1978, he has been teaching at the Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf, of which he is now rector.
From October 29 to December 17, 2013: series of lectures on the theme of "Sculpture and language"
