British sculptor Tony Cragg is widely recognised as one of the most acclaimed artists of his generation. He has lived and worked in Wuppertal, Germany since the late 1970’s and his work is highly-regarded internationally.

This 5.5 metre tall, bronze sculpture has been exhibited in many cities across Europe and abroad, including London, Prague and Amsterdam amongst others. The artwork is on loan to SCAPE Public Art courtesy of Gow Langsford Gallery in Auckland. It will remain here throughout summer.

The body of work that Mixed Feelings comes from within Cragg’s extensive oeuvre, is characterised by a fusion of figuration and abstraction. It is formed by two volumptuous intertwining bronze towers, pushing together and pulling apart as they twist upwards.

As you circle the piece, human profiles come into and out of focus. The result is incredibly dynamic, with the work seeming to be forged through a wrestle between the two entities.

Turner Prize-winning sculptor, Cragg has a bold practice that questions and tests the limits of a wide variety of traditional sculptural materials, including bronze, steel, glass, wood, and stone. Eschewing factory fabrication of his works, Cragg has been known to merge contemporary industrial materials with the suggestion of the functional forms of mundane objects and ancient vessels like jars, bottles and test tubes.

Image courtesy of the artist and Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland