Indulging in horse play

Chariots inspire: The Barbarians uses gym vaulting horses
Fisun Guner|Metro11 April 2012
The Weekender

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For those familiar with Anthony Caro only through his seminal welded steel sculptures from the 1960s, his recent work - and that of the past decade - will no doubt strike many as containing a bold set of contrasts.

Whereas the work that made Caro a successor to the Modernist tradition was wholly abstract in form, we now have a return to representation. Where once the single material element - steel - was painted in bright, daring colours, we now have different materials in a single work, presented, more or less, in its 'raw' state. And where once the forms were open, airy and light, we now have largely closed, bulky forms.

Caro has used a range of materials in this exhibition, which is divided into three parts. While small, book-like constructions and wall reliefs made from coarse, heavily grained paper occupy the lower floor, upstairs we have the impressive Barbarians: six horsemen, with a chariot bringing up the rear, constructed from wood, terracotta and steel. The main body of the roughly hewn creatures are the vaulting horses usually found in a gym.

The classical myth of Europa and the Bull makes for the final piece. A partly crushed steel cylinder becomes the body of the bull, four steel tubes its legs, a cone its head; while a terracotta Europa sits precariously on the creature's back. Like Barbarians, it's a work of great power and presence underpinned by a certain playfulness.

  • Anthony Caro is showing until April 17, Annely Juda, 23 Dering Street W1, Mon to Fri 10am to 6pm, Sat 10am to 1pm, free. Tel: 020 7629 7578. Tube: Oxford Circus

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