Tony Cragg, the celebrated sculptor and Turner prize-winner, is coming to town to deliver a lecture at Leeds City Art Gallery. The lecture, organised by the Henry Moore Institute is a rare opportunity to hear one of Britain’s finest sculptors discuss his work and the future of sculpture. An artist of international acclaim, Cragg is an innovative sculptor whose work has been appreciated on the contemporary art scene for many years. His early work often featured found objects, such as pieces of coloured plastic and shopping bags. His 1978 work New Stone Newton’s Tones consisted of plastic fragments arranged on the floor in a rectangle and grouped according to their position in Newton’s spectrum of colours. In the 1980s Cragg began to change his sculptural focus. His works from this period became more and more influenced by architectural designs. Constructed from various industrial materials his sculptures, such as 1987’s Minster, resemble cities and monuments. This new direction carried on into the next decade as Cragg continued to display semi-scientific pieces, such as his 1992 work Bromide Figure. Since 1977, Cragg has lived and worked in Germany. In 1988, he became a professor at the Kunstakademie Dusseldorf. In the same year, he was also honoured with a Turner prize and a role as Britain’s representative at the Venice Biennale.
Tony Cragg gives his lecture at 5pm on Friday 4 February at Leeds City Art Gallery on The Headrow. This is a free event. | 
