'Naked men' to appear on Hong Kong rooftops with debut of British artist Antony Gormley's Event Horizon installation
Sculptures by British artist Antony Gormley to make Hong Kong debut in November following cancellation last year after high-rise suicide
British artist Antony Gormley's striking "naked man" statues will appear on Hong Kong rooftops this November, more than a year after their original debut was cancelled when a trader for global bank J.P. Morgan jumped to his death from a building in Central.
The public sculpture installation known as Event Horizon features 31 fibreglass and iron statues made from life-size body casts of the artist.
They were first shown in London in 2007, gazing down from the tops of landmark buildings such as Southbank Centre and forcing the normally hectic commuter crowds below to pause and wonder at the unexpected interruptions in the familiar urban skyline.
The statues looked so lifelike that many were alarmed at the sight of them standing on the edge of rooftops.
Last year, sponsor Hongkong Land's decision to pull the plug on the exhibition attracted worldwide attention.
The company was believed to have changed its mind upon J.P. Morgan's prompting after Dennis Li Junjie, 33, jumped to his death in February from the roof of Chater House, a Hongkong Land property.
Putting Gormley's figures on the edge of Central rooftops was considered a poorly timed initiative.
Hongkong Land is now out of the picture for this second attempt at displaying the sculptures. Instead, other major Central landlords are expected to take part.
People close to the project told the South China Morning Post that the government had been approached with requests to allow some of the figures to stand atop some of Hong Kong's most iconic public buildings. Precise locations will be available next month, they said.
Gormley's art pieces are increasingly popular among Asian collectors. He is known for such works as the giant sculpture Angel of the North, displayed beside a motorway in northeast England, and has had his work collected by M+, the West Kowloon Cultural District's museum of visual culture.
M+ announced last May it had acquired Gormley's Asian Field after receiving a US$1 million donation from an anonymous philanthropist.
Gormley will visit Hong Kong in November to launch Event Horizon. He will also deliver this year's Central Saint Martins Cross Culture Lecture, which will be presented by Kai-yin Lo, the well-known Hong Kong designer who is a visiting principal lecturer at Central St Martins in London.