Executed in 2006, The Fanatics is an illustrious par exemplar of Cragg’s experimentations with forms and space. Rising to prominence in the late 1970s as a leading figure in a new generation of British sculptors who both embraced and rejected Minimalism and abstraction, Cragg has continued to explore the possibilities of new materials, creating a powerful and expressive body of work. The present work constitutes a visual test.mes nt to the development of Cragg’s own artistic vocabulary, rooted in British modernist sculpture. Consisting of staggered layers of stainless steel, arranged to form an upward structure which develops symMetricas lly around a central axis in an elliptical motion, the present work recalls a beautiful and unruly tornado. Regarding his choice of materials and subject matter, Cragg stated, “Natural occurring formations, materials, phenomena and objects, are part of the original inventory of the universe and as such provide us with a vocabulary of qualities which also has become the language for describings human activities and their results” (Tony Cragg, ‘Pre-Conditions’, in Exh. Cat., Bonn, Kunst-und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Tony Cragg: Signs of Life, 2003, p. 163).

Cragg had been experimenting with this accumulation of layers since his very early career, when he employed materials such as wood and rubber. In this case, the choice of medium adds to the emotional intensity of the experience as when the viewer glances at the work one is confronted with a monumental reflective form. The British artist constantly addressed multiple dialogues within each work, between the sculpture and the material, sculpture and space, and sculpture and viewer. The reflectivity of the irregular surface not only enables the spectator to become part of the work, but also results in a distortion of the surrounding space. This enables a reading of the sculpture as an investigation into the limits of perception, which is continuously altered as one changes position in relation to the work. In the artist’s own words, sculpture “permits a journey of discovery that gives us a glimpse at the myriad of forms as yet unseen. If science attempts to explain the physics of our reality it is sculpture and art in general that gives it value and meaning (Tony Cragg quoted in: Patrick Elliott, Tony Cragg, Sculptures and Drawings, London 2011, p. 1)”.

The organic and elliptical structure of The Fanatics suggests a sense of movement and fluidity, alluding to the un-fixedness of the sculptural element which remains open to interpretation. Despite the seemingly abstract nature of the work, in the lower half of the sculpture Cragg visibly traces the contours of the human profile, from head to chest, displaying his ongoing interest in the relationship between the man and the man-made. In this case, the duality between the industrial and the natural is most visible in the choice of material, which is set in dialogue not only with the human profile but also with the overall organic structure.

Within each layer of stainless steel, Cragg challenges the limits of sculpture and gives a new form to the classical bust, transforming it into a constantly evolving form which actively engages the viewer. In this way, he affirms his position as one of the most celebrated artists of the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Explaining his approach, Cragg noted that “there is this idea that sculpture is static, or maybe even dead, but I feel absolutely contrary to that…When I’m involved in making sculpture, I’m looking for a system of belief or ethics in the material. I want that material to have a dynamic, to push and move and grow” (Tony Cragg in conversation with Robert Ayers, ‘Interview with Tony Cragg’, ArtInfo, 16 May 2007, online).