Tony Cragg: In and Out of Material

“The future of sculpture has only just begun. Its potential is greater now than ever before, and its possibilities are just starting. Its language and its forms are just beginning to evolve.” So says Tony Cragg, a believer not just in sculpture, but in freestanding, made-from-scratch abstraction. Cragg refuses to accept the domination of installation and the ready-made. His dedication to the form as he works in it–to its complexities, to its ability to interrogate the world and heighten our sensitivity–and his consistent espousal of that dedication, have given him an intriguing and unusual role in contemporary art. Cragg is a promoter of his medium in an age of anxiety about medium-based definitions, an age of crossover. There are plenty of words here, in an interview and three essays, but it’s the sketches, watercolors, installation views, studio photographs and the sculptures themselves that make up the bulk of this new volume.