Anish Kapoor Joins Instagram With a Telling Handle

It's Kapoor's social media debut, and first public display of his photography.

People look at the grafitti inscribed artwork by British-Indian artist Anish Kapoor entitled Dirty Corner in the gardens of the Chateau de Versailles in Versailles on September 11, 2015, a day after the artwork was emblazoned with grafitti for a third time. Courtesy of Versailles Patrick Kovarik/AFP/Getty Images.

Instagram is slowly but surely becoming the social media platform of choice for both artists and art lovers, and its growing list of VIP users­—which includes Ai Weiwei, Richard Prince, Beyoncé and Jay Z, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Pierce Brosnan—has an illustrious new member: Anish Kapoor.

The British sculptor launched his first Instagram account this week, under the telling handle of @dirty_corner.

If the name rings a bell it’s because it is also the title of the 60-meter flared steel tube 2011 sculpture that Kapoor installed in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles in Paris, in June, and which was vandalized shortly after the artist described it as a symbol of “the vagina of the queen who took power.”

Kapoor definitely has a knack for dirty corners, and he’s been using that motif in his oeuvre for a number of years (for example, in his dazzling performative sculpture Shooting Into the Corners [2009–2013]).

This project not only marks his social media debut, but also, crucially, the first time ever Kapoor is publicly showing his photographic work.

Dirty Corner features a photography series that Kapoor has been working on for a while, and he has decided that social media was the best platform for it.

According to his studio, Kapoor will upload a new photo to Instagram every day, and judging from what we’ve seen so far, they all capture serendipitous sculptural compositions found in the nooks and corners encountered in everyday life (some dirtier than others).

Dirty corners aside, this is proving a rather eventful summer for Kapoor, who—hot on the heels of his Versailles “vagina-gate”—is considering taking legal action against Chinese authorities over the “blatant plagiarism” of his Chicago Millennium Park sculpture Cloud Gate (2006), which popped up in Karamay, Xinjiang.

To add insult to injury, Kapoor was recently angered and disappointed when Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel publicly dismissed the matter, commenting, “‘Imitation is the greatest form of flattery’ is what I would say. And if you want to see original artwork like this or like the Bean, you come to Chicago.”

On a slightly lighter note, a few weeks ago it was announced that Kapoor would be turning his tower-sculpture ArcelorMittal Orbit, located in London’s Olympic Park, into a gigantic, 180-meter slide, in collaboration with the artist Carsten Höller,. The slide is slated to open in Spring 2016.

Related stories:

Are Pierce Brosnan and High-Profile Collectors Really Using Instagram to Buy Art?

The 6 Most Popular Art Exhibitions on Instagram, Ever

Ways of Seeing Instagram

Richard Prince Instagram Victims Speak Out

Anish Kapoor Claims Vandalization of His Versailles Sculpture Was Politically Motivated

Jubilant Ai Weiwei Fans Start Passport Selfie Trend


Follow Artnet News on Facebook:


Want to stay ahead of the art world? Subscribe to our newsletter to get the breaking news, eye-opening interviews, and incisive critical takes that drive the conversation forward.
Article topics