Tony Cragg

Tony Cragg is a British sculptor born in 1949 in Liverpool. He now lives and works in Wuppertal, Germany.

A student of science, he worked in a biochemical laboratory from 1966 to 1968. In 1969, he began studying art, first at Gloucester College of Art and Design in Cheltenham, then at Wimbledon College of Art, from 1970 to 1973 He then joined the prestigious Royal College of Art, from which he graduated in 1977. It was during this period that he specialized in the field of sculpture and that he flew to Germany. From 1979, he became a teacher. Father of four children from a first marriage, he is now the husband of Tatjana Verhasselt, also an artist.

Tony Cragg uses cheap, everyday materials for his sculptures. This approach makes it possible to anchor his work in reality. Above all, it favors volume, in order to occupy space. It recovers and reclaims industrial waste, breathing new life into it. The artist combines and superimposes them, thus creating an atypical, gigantic and paradoxically familiar sculpture. Tony Cragg is inspired by the new realists, neo-dadaists and pop-art to create sculptures with multiple materials and varied resonances. Bronze, glass, wood, stone… So many elements which speak to the artist and which allow him to tackle the themes of travel, cultural identity, science, nature… The latter imposes no limits on himself, giving free rein to his curiosity and artistic fiber.

Tony Cragg is a recognized sculptor on the European scene. France has trusted him since his beginnings. It was in Saint-Etienne that he exhibited for the first time in 1981. In 2011, 30 years later, the Louvre museum invited him to exhibit his works. He participated in the Venice Biennale in 1988, 1993 and 1997, and in Documenta 7 and 8 in Kassel in 1982 and 1987. In 1988, Tony Cragg won the Turner Prize. In 2001, he entered the Berlin Academy of the Arts. The artist initiated the opening of the sculpture park in Wuppertal. From 2009 to 2015, he was rector at the Academy of Fine Arts in Düsseldorf.