Join Professor Mary Beard and sculptor Stephen Cox RA for a discussion about art in antiquity.
Stephen Cox: Dialogues in Stone opens at the Museum of Art and Photography, Bangalore
As a part of the inauguration, MAP will be showcasing the sculptures of Stephen Cox, a British sculptor who has spent a considerable amount of time working in India. His sculptures of Yoginis and Rishis carved in basalt greet audiences as they enter the museum. Drawing from Cox’s observations of architectural sites and monuments in the region, they embody mythical beings through minimalist forms.
The titles of these sculptures – yoginis and rishis – refer to powerful goddesses and sages. The yoginis were part of an esoteric cult, where only a small group of individuals held knowledge about these goddesses. Enshrined in open temples and shrouded in secrecy, yoginis possess magical powers that evoke both fear and awe. Cox’s sculptures are contemporary interpretations of these goddesses, blending animal and human forms, a hybridity referenced in ancient Indian texts and one the artist has encountered in Middle Eastern, Egyptian, Greek and Roman iconography.
The smoothness of stone in the yoginis is contrasted to the rough and textured form of the rishis. Associated with knowledge and truth, the rishis take the form of torsos and other irregular shapes. The minimal intervention to the stone reflects the austere nature of rishis. In doing so Cox breathes life into intractable stone, capturing the essence and spirit of primordial figures.
Cox works with local material, using stone extracted from quarries to the east of Kanchipuram, a city in Tamil Nadu. A team of stone carvers in Mahabalipuram give shape to these sculptures. These stones, known as basalt, were also used in the construction of ancient temples. His sculptures thus bring to light an ancient material into a contemporary setting; the incisions made to these stones are preserved, bearing the marks of time
Museum of Art & Photography (MAP) Bangalore
The exhibition runs from February 18, 2023 - February 18, 2024
Stephen Cox Sculptures installed at the Museum of Art and Photography, Bangalore
Stephen Cox 'Encounters With Stone' at Camridge University
Creation and Installation of 'Interior Space: For Khafre' by Stephen Cox 2021
New works going to TEFAF Maastricht 2020
Stephen has recently completed a substantial body of new works that are pictured below. They will be on show on Adrian Sassoon’s stand at TEFAF in Maastricht between the 7th and the 15th of March 2020.
Review of R.A. Summer show 2019
Stephen Cox at the Royal Academy Summer Show
Summer Exhibition 2019
10 June — 12 August 2019
Stephen Cox at Masterpiece, 2019
These four works made from Imperial Porphyry are on show on Adrian Sassoon’s stand B26 at Masterpiece between the 20th of June and the 3rd of July 2019 in Chelsea.
Stephen Cox's work on show at TEFAF 2019
A strong group of Stephen Cox’s porphyry and alabaster sculptures are on display at TEFAF Maastricht 2019 from 16th-24th March. The TEFAF fair boasts a 7,000 year span of art and Stephen’s sculptures suit this diverse context as the material is ancient, but the forms are thoroughly contemporary.
Stephen Cox RA - Kallos Gallery - Ancient Stone
1 October – 2 November 2018
14-16 Davies Street London W1K 3DR
‘A collaboration inspired by the materiality of stone and featuring sculptures from antiquity alongside contemporary works by Stephen cox Ra, an artist renowned for his knowledge of ancient sculptural techniques, traditions and materials. the exhibition included works in porphyry, marble, alabaster, breccia, gneiss, diorite and flint.’
Text by Kallos Gallery
