Anthony Caro: Open Secret
The Warburg Institute is pleased to announce its collaboration with the world-renowned publishing house Ivorypress. Both institutions are dedicated to interdisciplinary research breaking down the barriers between subjects, specialities, genres and materials.
On the occasion of Ivorypress’ 25th anniversary, the Warburg Institute is thrilled to display one of their unique artist’s books: Sir Anthony Caro’s Open Secret (2004). It is a work that is sculptural and literary at the same time, questioning our traditional understanding of both books and sculpture. Unpublished archival material, including correspondence between Caro and Ivorypress, will accompany the display and offer an insight into the process of the making and commissioning of the artwork.
Sir Anthony Caro (1924-2013) was a British artist best known for his abstract, monumental sculptures made out of industrial pieces of metal, often painted in solid, bright colours. Open Secret is a series of sculptures made of grey cardboard, stainless steel, brass and bronze (the former two will be on view), each conveying its unique character through its material. They evoke books by including bindings and handwritten texts by the German poet Hans Magnus Enzensberger and an excerpt from William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. Caro brings together seemingly distinct artforms by engendering a dialogue between sculpture and literature, or image and text (a concern particularly relevant for the Warburg Institute). As an Institution and library that encourages interdisciplinary scholarship, the Warburg Institute speaks to the essence of the artwork and hopes to provide an environment that will be conducive to new discussions.
To see the exhibition, visitors are welcome to enter the Warburg Institute's Reading Room during normal opening hours. For more details see here. For further information about Open Secret and the partnership between the Warburg Institute and Ivorypress please explore the pages below.
This exhibition was curated by Valerie Maasburg (Ivorypress), Bill Sherman, and current Warburg MA students in Art history, Curating and Renaissance Culture Eleanor Lerman, Lydia Riley, Isabella Schwarzer and Francisco de Borja Herraiz Garcia de Guadiana.
