Anish Kapoor is celebrating his first exhibition in Liverpool in over four decades with an expansive showcase honoring the 100th anniversary of Liverpool Cathedral. The free exhibition, titled “Monadic Singularity,” features a variety of Kapoor’s sculptures from the last 25 years, displayed throughout the cathedral, which is one of the few venues large enough to accommodate his monumental works, including the immersive sculpture Sectional Body Preparing for Monadic Singularity (2015). This exhibition also marks the U.K. debut of this significant piece.

While Liverpool Cathedral is not the oldest place of worship in the U.K.—that title belongs to Canterbury Cathedral, established in 597—it is the largest in the country and the eighth-largest worldwide. The cathedral has increasingly embraced art exhibitions, hosting events like a sensory group show earlier this summer and a solo exhibit by Ukrainian artist Katya Buchatska last spring.

“Monadic Singularity,” supported by Culture Liverpool, the Liverpool BID Company, jewelry brand Boodles, and Lisson Gallery, represents the cathedral's most ambitious exhibition to date. Paul Smith, Director of Enterprise at the cathedral, noted, “In the last five or six years, we’ve worked diligently to enhance our cultural programming. We aimed to elevate the experience and bring one of the world’s leading contemporary artists here as a significant thank you to our worshippers and visitors.” Elisa Nocente, Head of Cultural Programme, expressed, “It is a privilege that Anish Kapoor has chosen to collaborate with Liverpool Cathedral.”

According to Merriam-Webster, a monad is “an elementary individual substance which reflects the order of the world and from which material properties are derived.” In this context, “Monadic Singularity” explores its spiritual environment through a physical lens, aligning with Kapoor’s material-centric approach and the awe-inspiring Gothic architecture of Liverpool Cathedral. Utilizing materials such as steel and onyx, Kapoor’s work invites viewers into a sublime experience through striking physical transformations.

The cathedral describes the exhibition as reflecting on significant life moments: birth, marriage, and death. Kapoor himself stated, “The works I have selected for the cathedral exist in the space between body and materiality and geometric immateriality, which I refer to as the non-object.” Alongside his remarkable Sectional Body, this exhibition at a U.K. cathedral includes his red wax sculpture Untitled (2010) in the Main Space, as well as the stonework Immininence (2000) and the colorful Non-Object (Spire) (2007) displayed throughout the Lady Chapel and Ambulatory. Kapoor hopes this interplay of object and non-object within such a powerful space will provoke reflection on the nature of religious experience and the human condition.

“Monadic Singularity” opens just months before Kapoor’s postponed survey at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, which is set to be his largest North American exhibition. The exhibition will be on display until September 15, 2024. In the meantime, Liverpool Cathedral offers late-night viewings that include tours, ascents up the 505-foot Vestey Tower, and refreshments from the Cathedral’s Welsford Bistro during the exhibition’s run.

Sayart / Sayart sayart2022@gmail.com